Down Goes Another One
by DarkElements10
Summary: It's time for McFly to go on their 10th anniversary tour, and hey have an idea; bringing their friends along with them. But friends aren't the only thing they're bringing along for the ride. Who knew it would be the most memorable, chaotic, and dramatic tour when the skeletons in McFly's closets dust themselves off? If there's one thing McFly isn't short of, it's chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**Down Goes Another One**

**By: Riley**

**Full Summary – **It's time for McFly to go on another tour, but this time they have an even better idea, bringing their old friends back and forming McBusted. But they're not the only friends they bring along for the ride. Who knew this tour would be the most memorable, the most chaotic, and the most dramatic when the skeletons in McFly's closets dust themselves off? But theirs aren't the only skeletons they have to worry about. It's been said there's strength in numbers, but when secrets and lies are in play, it's only a matter of time before another one goes down.

* * *

**.:Chapter One:.**

* * *

"Dougie, get the hell off me!"

Tom Fletcher rolled his eyes as he turned away from the counter, holding onto a mug of coffee. Didn't any of them ever think about growing up at some point or another? He should have known it was bound to happen, even if they were in different countries to promote their album or latest tour, he had always become paranoid that at some point a pillow was going to come flying at his head when he least expected it.

And this time, as they boys were in his house, he was a bit more ticked off at their antics. Just last week he had to replace nearly every piece of furniture in his house because of Harry, Danny, and Dougie. Though he could admit that part of it was his fault, he _was _the one that had suggested the game of kickball in the house. But who knew it was going to end up with the boys tacking each other onto the couches, chairs, and tables that were scattered around the living room.

Okay, if he were smart he would've seen it coming a mile away. But there was always something about the four of them being together that managed to have him completely forget about the antics they constantly got themselves into. Especially when they didn't have anyone around to tell them 'no' or 'stop'.

_Fletch may have tried, but he should've given up after the second time, _Tom thought. He steeled himself for a sight that was bound to cause him to shake his head for the twenty millionth time since meeting the three boys, and went into the living room. What he found, however was something he had become so used to that even the fans had managed to pick up on it and make a joke out of it.

Harry Judd was—as always—doing pushups on the floor and Dougie Poynter was lying on his back, arms wrapped tightly around Harry and enjoying the ride. Danny Jones was sitting on the couch across from them, recording it on his phone. Tom tilted his head as he looked down at Harry, who had now collapsed onto the floor and was being bear hugged by Dougie.

"You do realize its things like this that make you guys nothing but internet fodder, right?" Tom brought the coffee mug to his lips and took a long sip.

"Trust me, I'm aware." Harry stood up and Dougie continued to hold onto him, now wrapping his long legs around the drummer's waist. "You know what we should do though? Patent this and make a Dougie backpack. He actually does a good job of adding weight when I'm trying to work out."

"Well, it's the only working out he'll ever do so…" Danny grinned as he lowered his phone to his lap and crossed his legs. Shifting his feet back as Tom walked by, he looked at his watch. "Shouldn't Fletch be here soon? I actually came on time for once."

"And it's only seconds away from the world exploding, thanks for reminding us, Dan," Tom said sarcastically.

Actually, he had been surprised that Dougie, Harry, _and _Danny had all managed to find themselves at his house on time. He was actually starting to become used to his constant nagging for Danny to get wherever was needed on time. So that Danny being the first one to arrive that morning Tom had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming—though the noticeable lack of aliens was a big clue of that. The same aliens that had haunted him and his dreams for as long as he could remember. Even thinking of them at that moment caused him to let out an involuntary shudder as he remembered the nightmare from the night before.

It was a bit silly, he supposed. Continuously being so afraid of thing that weren't even real—though he would've liked to work at NASA to find out for sure, but there was something so sinister, so cold about them that constantly had him waking up in a cold sweat with a scream at his lips. It was those moments that made him happy he didn't have anyone that lived with him, but on the other hand it made him wish there _was _someone that was in bed next to him. To comfort him and to let him know everything was going to be okay. But if he told someone about that, about his nightmares, then he'd have to explain everything else and he wasn't ready for that. Other than the boys, he rarely allowed anyone to stay at his house for that reason alone.

He wasn't ready for the fallout that would come with it. No, he had to keep it quiet as long as he could. Until he thought it was the right time, even if it meant having to constantly revel in his sleepless nights and paranoid thoughts.

"Well, we'll know when Fletch gets here because he'll be talking a mile a minute when he comes through the door," Dougie remarked. He finally climbed down from Harry's back and straddled the ottoman that sat across from Tom and Danny. He started to pick at the buttons that were imprinted in the top of the leathery footstool. "Remember the last meeting we had? Couldn't get a word in and I _still_ don't know what he was telling us."

"Well, let's be honest here, Doug, you don't know what anyone is saying to you anyway, right?" Harry laughed and dropped onto the chair behind him, stretching out until his butt hung over the edge. He placed his hands on his stomach, gently shifting the chair back and forth with a twist of his waist. "You _still_ think that we travel through time every time you fall asleep on the bus and we get to the next city."

"I'm just saying there's no way we can get around to so many places so quickly. And time traveling should totally be a thing by now. It suck that we don't even have hover boards." He got up from the ottoman and jumped onto the couch next to Tom, jostling him. "Tom agrees with me, don't you Tom?"

But Tom, however, was too preoccupied with the coffee that had just slid out of his mug and splashed onto the white cushion underneath him. "Dougie! My couch!" He tilted his head back as he groaned. "Now I have to replace this one, too!"

"Don't be such a girl, Tom, all you have to do is clean the cushion," Danny pointed out. He turned to Harry and the two started to snicker. "Look at 'im, getting all worked up over a couch!"

"Dan—"

Tom was cut off by the ring of the doorbell and Danny quickly leapt off of the couch and raced towards the front door, lest the leader of McFly turned his wrath onto him rather than the youngest member of McFly. Grabbing onto the doorknob, Danny pulled the door open and stepped back, watching as their manager, Matthew 'Fletch' Fletcher, walked through the door, already having greeted Danny and getting right to business.

Danny followed after the manger back into the living room and watched blue eyes wide, as Fletch continued to spurt at the mouth about…something. He really wasn't sure what Fletch was saying, all of the words were jumbling together as he continued to rant on and on. All he got out of it were the words that always made Danny excited about being in a band; signing and tour. Meeting the fans and being able to perform were his favorite parts of being McFly. It was even better than writing, recording, and releasing songs, as the wait to see where they would chart or knowing what the fans thought was more nerve wracking than even performing in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

After exchanging a glance with Tom, Harry, and Dougie, whose expressions all made Danny realize that he wasn't alone in being confused, the front man cleared his throat to get Fletch's attention. "Right…Fletch…what are you going on about?"

Fletch glanced at the four men he had worked with ever since the band started and let out a heavy sigh that caused his body to bend forward in half. When he straightened himself, he had a large smile on his face. "How would you like to go back on tour?"

* * *

**A/N: **My first chapters are always short. I'd been putting up a bunch of one-shots for this section for the past couple of years (since October 2013) and decided to finally write another full length story. As with the one-shots, our OCs; the Jacksons, and Gen and Jacqui will be main characters as well. I'll have the next chapter up soon.

Cheers,

-Riles


	2. Chapter 2

** .:Chapter Two:. **

* * *

Geneviève 'Gen' Charlier blew a gentle breath across the top of her steaming mug of tea as she curled up on the couch. Taking a quick sip, she allowed the warmth to wash over her before lowering the mug from her mouth and regarding the girl that paced back and forth in front of her. She followed the girl with her eyes for a few moments before speaking.

"What are you looking for, Jacqui?" She asked.

"My scarf," Jacqui Guhl replied. She turned and zeroed in on Gen before jumping onto the couch next to her. "When I said I'd study abroad in London, everyone in my family told me that I needed to dress warmly. It gets pretty cold in New Jersey so I always use my long Harry Potter scarf that I can double up and I can't find it." She lifted a couch cushion and passed it over to Gen, who lifted it up as Jacqui started to look through the couch. "It's not here, but I found a lot of candy wrappers."

Gen leaned over and her eyes widened as she looked at the handful of wrappers from candy bars and lollipops were pulled out of the couch. "How could you manage to eat that much?"

"Remember that test that I studied for?"

"Right, I remember. That's the one that you had so many cups of coffee to stay awake so that you could get as much studying done as possible." Gen gave her a look as she handed the cushion back. Her lips curled against the rim of her mug. "Didn't you end up blacking out at some point?"

The question was rewarded with a heavy sigh as Jacqui closed her eyes against the memory. "Yes, I fell asleep on the train and had people staring at me when I woke up. Of course I didn't realize until later it was because my shirt was see-through." With a half smile she started to absentmindedly run her fingers through her hair. "Definitely gave those boys a show."

"Are you sure it wasn't because of your snoring?" Gen laughed to herself and quickly moved her mug away from her mouth as Jacqui whacked her on the arm. "Ha! Nice try." She looked at her watch. "After your class do you want to go into town and get some dinner? I can meet you if you get off at—"

"That's what she said," Jacqui interrupted, causing Gen to smile.

"Are you always going to do that?"

"You walked yourself into that one. That was not my fault."

"Anyway, if you get off at Leicester Square we can find a restaurant or a movie or something."

"Sounds good to me." Jacqui got off to the couch and started to look around for her scarf once more. Finally, with a cry of triumph, she found it behind the TV stand and quickly pulled it down over her neck, making sure to tie it just so. "I could go with some entertainment." She then pulled on a hat and started moved to leave the apartment. "I'll see you later."

"It's not that cold," Gen called, watching as she pulled on her large jacket.

"Excuse me, Frenchie, but not all of us come from a place that's completely covered in ice," Jacqui teased her friend. Gen raised an eyebrow. "You can try and convince us as much as you want, but we all know that you have winters, moose, and maple syrup and that's it."

Now Gen rolled her eyes. "Americans," she murmured with a playful twinkle in her eye.

"Canadians," Jacqui replied. She turned as there was a knock on the door to their apartment and she walked towards it. "You hear that, they're coming to deport you!"

"Sure, but I'm taking you down with me. Neither of us are English."

"I'm sure I can fake the accent enough," Jacqui said. She opened the door and blinked for a moment before tilting her head to the side. "Uh, aren't you supposed to be in Australia right now?"

Rhuben Jackson gave her an amused look, crossing her arms over her chest. "Would you rather we be there right now?"

"Uh, yeah," Jacqui replied. "It's warm. There are beaches everywhere and by now I'm sure that you now you know how to protect your babies from dingoes and to keep all of those poisonous snakes and spiders from getting into the house."

Riley Jackson, Rhuben's twin, gave a loud laugh before pulling her red strand of hair out of her face. "Just let us in, boofhead." She stepped forward and gave Jacqui a big hug before stepping aside and entering the apartment, going over to Gen, who stood up in surprise before giving her best friends hugs as well. Riley took the chance to look around the apartment. "Wow, you guys have a great place here. When you said you'd be studying abroad, Jac-Jac, I thought you'd be in one of those rundown places with no heat or something."

"Well, you know me, I would be able to survive off the many men that fell for my American charm," Jacqui said with an exaggerated hair flip. She dropped her backpack to the ground and jumped back onto the couch once more. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, don't you have a class to go to?" Rhuben asked. She sat down in the leather armchair that sat next to the TV and pulled her legs up underneath her. "I assume that where you were going with your backpack that big. Then again, you could be stalking Tom Felton for all I know."

"Screw class, I can skip it."

"What _are _you doing here?" Gen asked. She then lightly slapped herself on the forehead. "Where are my manners, do you want something warm to drink? I know you don't like the cold." She gestured to the large sweatshirts and gloves the Australian girls were wearing. "I'll get you some hot chocolate."

"Don't stress, Gen, its fine," Riley said with a wave of her hand. "It's not like we're going to freeze to death anytime soon, yeah?" As if to prove herself wrong, she shivered and pulled her hands into the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "Hot chokkie would be fine."

Gen nodded and got up from her seat and went into the kitchen. She quickly made the two cups of hot chocolate for the girls before bringing them back out to the living room. She handed them over to her friends before sitting back down on the couch. Brushing her brown hair from her face, she regarded the Aussies. "How long has it been since we last saw you?"

"A couple of years, yeah?" She glanced over at Rhuben, who thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. "A couple, give or take. But we've been so busy, you know? So many press conferences and appearances, and studio work and the like."

"Speaking of, where are the boys?" Gen asked, speaking of their brothers, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. "Didn't they come with you?"

"We just got in a couple hours ago and they wanted to get some sleep before we go to get something to eat," Rhuben explained. She sat up straight, placing her mug on the bookshelf next to her. "We don't even know why we're here, really. Fletch called Ronan and asked him to have us out here on the next available flight. Of course that made things a bit aggro when we tried to get the quickest flight, but…" she trailed off with a shrug.

Gen gave a gentle smile as she studied the two girls—of which she had gotten her nickname 'Gentle' from the Jackson siblings. Not only was it her personality to be a bit quieter than her three best friends that were more outgoing, but she had a way about her that was so calming. It made so that she was a good person to talk to when something was going wrong and to just give advice in general. And as Gen glanced around at her friends, she could see there was something that the two girls weren't saying. Which wasn't that far of a stretch. Not only did they have a tendency to be secretive, but who knew what had happened over the last four years with their work in their band. With constant flights around the world to play shows in so many countries that you could sleep in one and wake up in another, there was always something going on.

And with that much time away it meant there was an even greater chance of the friendships and relationships form before that were strained. Even some of her own had been strained after she had left their tour the last time. She remembered it fondly. Riley's and Rhuben's band, and McFly had been touring around Australia as McFly had worked on their album Radio:ACTIVE, and Jacqui and Gen had been invited along just because they were great friends with the band as well as being hired by the Jacksons to be their assistants while they were on tour. Having been reunited for the time being with their friends—and those they had past relationships with in McFly—Gen could understand why they might be a bit hesitant about seeing the boys again. She knew if Fletch had wanted them back in London, McFly was going to be involved in some way.

She had heard of the things that McFly had gone through over the past couple of years and expressed her support when needed, but knew it'd be a while before things were truly back to 'normal'. _Though with those boys, things are never truly normal, I suppose._ She had seen and been on the receiving end of McFly's antics so many times that it had come to be a fair bit of entertainment for her. It had given her a healthy sense of being able to deal with things that came her way, but nothing could ever prepare her for the things that McFly always seemed to get into. Which became even worse when they got the DarkElements involved as well. _It was all so much fun, _she remembered.

"Well, Jacqui and I were saying that we were going to go to Leicester Street for some dinner later today," Gen said, changing the subject. "And considering it doesn't seem like Jacqui is going to be going to class, why don't we all go and see the sights. We can get some food and catch up." She then paused, looking concerned. "What about Patrick, Noah, and Sydney though? Wouldn't they want to eat, too?"

"Yeah, but I don't mind eating twice," Riley said. "Fill me up, I'm good to go."

"That's what she said," Jacqui blurted before collapsing into hysterical laughter.

Riley's right eyebrow twitched upwards as her eyes flashed. "Huh, can you believe I forgot how annoying that is?"

"Aww, but you love me anyway." Jacqui batted her eyelashes, causing the girls to laugh as they got to their feet and bundled up before heading outside.

"Yes we do, Jacqui," Rhuben agreed. "Yes, we do."

* * *

James Bourne was confused as to why he had been invited by Fletch to go back to the Universal Records office. Not only had he been called in the middle of the night in New York, but because he hadn't heard Matthew 'Fletch' Fletcher that excited since he announced that one of the plays he had written was going to be performed on West End. Then as James listened to his manager—or former manger as the case was—babble along in his ear at a mile a minute, he barely manage to get out that the man was saying that something was going to be a good experience, that they couldn't pass it up, that it would be something revolutionary, and that he had to get out to London as soon as possible.

That had been a few days before and while James had enjoyed himself meeting up with his friends and family he had left behind, he still didn't know why he was called back to London. After calling Fletch to tell him his flight had arrived, Fletch basically said to make himself at home and to wait until Fletch called him again.

Ok.

He could do that.

He still had his family he hadn't seen in a long time, his old friends. There was always someone around that he could hang out with, go to the pub, watching sports games on TV, go to each other's houses, write and record some songs with. The sky was the limit, but after the first few days went by with no word from Fletch, he was still confused. And that's what prompted him to call Matt Willis, whom he was surprised to hear had been called back to London as well.

"Really? You're here now?" James had asked.

"Yeah, I'm just 'round at my mates' place," Matt replied. Then he paused. "Why? Where are you?"

"I'm at my place," James said. He then started to smile. "Why don't you come 'round and we can see what Fletch has up his sleeve this time?"

"No worries, mate. I'll be right there."

And when James hung up the phone he couldn't help but think of all of the fun he and Matt had while they were still in their band, Busted. They had quickly soared to the top of the charts when their young band had started, along with Charlie Simpson, and he had enjoyed each and every part of it. The songwriting, performing the songs on the talk shows, the interviews, anything that would promote the music. (Though he wasn't too keen on the photo shoots, he always found it to be kind of awkward). But being able to do all of the performance, their two large concerts had been the best times of his life and when Busted ended because Charlie left the band he had been hesitated. He tried to do other projects that would take up the place of Busted, but there had been so much pressure.

When his first band had a single that didn't come close to where the Busted singles came on the chart, he had nothing but criticism put on him and that took the fun out of everything. Seeing that he needed time to get back into the passion of music, where no one knew his name, he jetted off to New York, where he started to write and record songs again, even if they were just for himself.

But when Matt came through the door of his house, the two immediately came together in a hug and were chattering a mile a minute, as if the last time they hadn't seen each other face to face was ages ago. Not only did they pick up right where they left off, but after a while of explaining what it was they had been doing since they last saw each other, but they started to reminisce about Busted as well.

"It's so strange to really understand, years later, that being in Busted was one of the best moments of my life," Matt said to James, leaning back on the couch, arms stretched across the top. James smiled and nodded in agreement as he looked at his friend. Though he still looked the same, Matt certainly had changed since they were young, especially his hair. James almost hadn't recognized the bassist at first because he had normal hair. There was no dye, no crazy colors, and no hair sticking out in all directions.

"I hope life without Busted hasn't turned you into an old fart," James remarked with a light laugh.

"You wish, pal," Matt remarked, laughing as well. "No, I mean, I've calmed down in a lot of ways. Some more than others, but I'm still the guy that's willing to try anything once."

Then the strange thought had come into James's head. Well, it wasn't exactly strange; he had thought about it a lot over the past couple of years, once after having a dream of it happening. Though, he was still a bit hesitant of mentioning it to Matt, what if he was laughed at or immediately shut down. "Do you ever think about starting it again? Busted, I mean?"

Matt regarded James with surprise, taking a moment to think before tentatively responding, "Mate, we said we would never do Busted again if it were just the two of us."

"I know but…I mean, don't you ever miss it?"

James had no idea how much Matt did miss the band. It wasn't until it ended that Matt realized he didn't want to do anything else in his life. The years that he had, in a way, wasted because he had gotten so much into the partying lifestyle while they had been experiencing it, was lost and fuzzy in his memory. Still, the things he did remember he wanted nothing more than to be able to go back and relive. Funny enough, he had been thinking about the band a lot, wanting to start it up again as well. But he knew there was a slim chance of it happening, especially if Charlie didn't want to go back, as the tallest member of Busted had said in no uncertain terms when he left the band to start a new venture.

"I miss it all the time," Matt said honestly. "It's what I've been thinking about a lot, lately, actually." He rubbed his nose before grinning, the skin by his mouth bunching up and almost hiding the mole situated right by his nose. "Wouldn't it be amazing if we were to do it again? It's the perfect time for us to do it, do you know how many movies and TV shows are doing reunions. I think we could do a reunion too. I get asked about it enough on Twitter."

"I reckon we might be too old for those jumps though," James remarked. As if to prove his point, he felt his legs cramping up and shifted so that he crossed them the other way at the ankle. "I would really need to get ready for that sort of thing."

"Right, like you don't practice it in your room," Matt teased. He then pointed towards his temple. "I can imagine you doing that, actually. In the off chance we did come back." There was a long moment of silence and the two looked at each other, the unanswered question hanging in the air between them. "_Do _you want to come back?"

Before James could answer, his phone rang and he leaned to the side to pull it out of the pocket of his baggy shorts. He turned the screen around so that Matt could see it was Fletch calling before James answered, putting the phone on speaker. "Yeah, Fletch? It's James."

"Hey James, how are you?" Fletch asked.

"Pretty good, Fletch. Um I've got Matt here with me as well," James said, glancing at his friend. "We heard that you asked for the two of us to be back in town and decided to meet up. Maybe to see if we could cop out what you were trying to do."

"Good, that makes this a lot easier for me to say rather than having to do it twice," Fletch said cheerfully. "How would you boys like to go on tour?"


	3. Chapter 3

**.:Chapter Three:.**

* * *

"Okay, shag, marry, kill…Smurfette, Mary Poppins, and…the Little Mermaid."

Dougie giggled at the stunned expressions on Tom's, Harry's, and Danny's faces second before he got a roaring cry of hysterical laughter. Good. He was still funny.

Tom bent over, placing his head between his knees before leaning back up and wiping tears from his eyes. "Oh my God, what the hell is that?" He asked before bursting out into another round of laughter, after having caught Danny's eye, who was laughing so hard his laughter had turned silent.

"It's a simple question," Dougie replied calmly. "Who would you shag, marry, and kill?"

"Mate, _where_ did you come up with those options? You're supposed to use real people," Harry pointed out. He brought his hands up to his face and wiped the tears away from them and took a deep breath. He finally caught his breath before turning towards the youngest member of McFly. "Really?"

"The game is boring if you use real people," Dougie pointed out. "Especially if it's not the people that are sitting around you. So, I needed to spice up the game a little bit." He clapped his hands together. "C'mon, answer the question! Who would you shag, marry, or kill?"

"OK! OK!" Danny finally caught his breath and crossed his arms over his chest. He thought for a long moment, blue eyes moving up towards the ceiling as he thought. "Shag the Little Mermaid, Marry Mary Poppins, Kill Smurfette." As soon as he finished, he got nothing but another round of hysterical laughter. "What? It makes sense. The Little Mermaid would be adventurous, Mary Poppins would take care of me, and what are you going to do with someone that small?"

"I didn't need an explanation, mate, thanks," Tom interrupted. He finally stopped laughing long enough to finish wiping away the tears that slid down his cheeks. He fanned himself, rosy cheeks slowly moving back to its original color. He pointed over at Dougie. "I blame you for this."

"You didn't answer the question," Dougie pointed out.

"I'm not going to answer it, mate; I'm already slightly scarred from having to hear Danny's answer."

The boys continued to laugh and Dougie grinned as he leaned back in his seat, before starting to spin around in his office chair. It was the only thing that would keep his mind off of the headache that was seriously starting to pound away at his temples. No, he couldn't lie to himself. It wasn't a headache, it was a hangover. A hangover that seemed to never go away. The night before he had done nothing but sit in front of the TV and drink wine until he passed out on the couch.

Then having arrived at Tom's place that morning, he was afraid the other guys would notice that he was, in fact, hung-over, and ask him about it. That's why it was so easy for him to turn the attention off himself. That and he absolutely hated silences. Silence is what caused him to want to do something, anything to fill it. It was why he was known as the one that caused him to act out so much when the others were around. The silence is what caused all of those voices to come into his head and remind him of everything that he had tried to keep inside, the things he hadn't ever wanted to talk about before.

It was those moments when he was alone that caused all of the insecurity and the dark thoughts to come back. He had managed to numb them for so long after having started in McFly when he was just fifteen years old. That was when everything around him started to fall apart, he hadn't been accepted very well at school, his father had just left himself, his mother and his sister without warning, he had been turned down from the band the first time and things had quickly gone into a downward spiral for him. It was when he had officially joined McFly that he finally found something that would take his mind off of things.

But then when things started to go in cycles; where they would wait to see if their music was doing well, to see if they would be going on tour, their time off after having been on tour, all of that gave him too much time to become aware that he hadn't managed to talk about the things he had pushed aside for years. But then the cycle would start all over again; the band would start back up, he'd focus all of his time with his best friends and the music they were crating, the memories they were making, and do his best to keep up appearances. As time went on he found it didn't work as well as it used to, and he started to push people away from him at his worst, and continue act like they were his best friends at his best.

Still, there was something missing, something dull and aching deep inside him and it were those times where he found himself at the bottom of a beer bottle or a wine glass after a hard night, not sure how he managed to get there and how much he had drank. But it didn't matter; it wasn't as if he had a problem.

"So when is this meeting supposed to start?" He asked, changing the subject. He continued to spin around and around in his chair until he became dizzy and brought his feet up onto the legs that held the wheels of the chair. He stopped himself so quickly that he fell out of the chair and onto the office floor, to the sound of Tom's, Harry's, and Danny's laughter. "Whoa, talk about losing your balance." He lay on his back on the floor, waiting for his eyes to stop spinning around.

"Fletch said the meeting was going to start about a half hour ago," Tom said, looking at his watch. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the long, mahogany table in front of him. He rested his chin in his hands and looked around the empty conference room. "He's usually the one that's getting on us about being late to meetings and appearances and now he's the one that's late."

"I think we should see that as a sign," Harry remarked. "That it's the end of the world. So Dougie's question of shag, marry, and kill brings a lot more meaning to it now." He pulled a pair of drumsticks out of his back pocket and started to tap them against the side of the table in the beat that was their song _Star Girl_. He only stopped when the door to the conference room opened and Fletch, their UK manager, and Jake Hardin, their US manager, walked into the room. "Finally!"

"Sorry, we had some people that we needed to talk to before we got here," Fletch apologized. "In fact, they should be in here in a few minutes. And there are some others on the way." He looked at his watch. "But that doesn't mean that we can't get some of this done right now." He motioned for Jake to sit down before he did as well. "As I had said when I was at Tom's house, it's time for you lot to go on another tour. Not only has it been a while since you've done your last album, Above the Noise, which, let's just agree to say didn't go over as well as we had hoped, but because we want to be sure that your fans know that you're still working for them."

"And in that mean, I don't think you guys realize how long it's been since you started McFly," Jake added. "Not only that, but how long it's been since you broke America. It's been quite a while and you've only managed to go up from there. So we feel it's time for you to reflect that with a quick tour. An anniversary tour of sorts. You had a bunch of songs that you haven't had played live in a while, but these guys have been there for you just as long as you could remember and not only are they still going to be there if you take a break or whatever, but even if there was an album or something that happened that hasn't been as well received, there are those that are going to continue to be your fans."

Fletch then took up the explanation once more. "And there are the American fans that haven't been able to see you for such a long time and I'm afraid that we're going to be missing great opportunities for expansion if we don't get back there soon. So there are some places out there that we're hoping we'll be able to get attention from once this tour starts."

"An anniversary tour?" Dougie asked, sitting up in his seat. "Are we old enough for an anniversary tour? Isn't that supposed to happen when we're, like, old farts?"

"Well, you have to remember that your guys' band started a lot earlier than most bands start," Jake said. He leaned back in his seat, brushing his dark brown hair from his blue eyes. "Not only did you have your fist single when Dougie was fifteen, but most bands don't even start or get a record deal until they're about eighteen or nineteen, so you already had a big jump on them." He let out a startled cry as he leaned back in his chair so far that it tilted over and he fell flat onto his back on the ground. Fletch reached over to quickly help him up while the McFly boys continued to sit still.

After having seen how much trouble Jake had gotten into and how clumsy he could be—striking it up to simple bad luck—they rarely blinked an eye at everything he had managed to do. Though from what they had seen throughout their adventures touring in the US with Jake working as their active manager, they had seen a lot of things that would have been catastrophic accidents if he hadn't been prepared.

_I suppose that would bring for some good stories, _Dougie thought. He drummed his finger against his chest before starting to examine them. _When the hell did I get that hangnail? _He half listened to Fletch and Jake as he continued to examine his hands. Meetings bored him unless it was something really cool, like figuring out what the stage was going to be like, what lights they were going to be used, and figuring out what sort of appearances they were going to. Nothing was more fun to him than being able to hang out with friends with an open bar.

Anything that would get him to the point where he could finally feel something other than darkness and anxiety. He got into his head too often, too many times would he allow himself to wondering what his father was doing or what it was he could've done that would keep him around so the family wouldn't have fallen apart. He couldn't ever get the image of his mother out of his head, with the intense sadness reflecting in her eyes when he had arrived home and immediately noticed something was wrong.

Everything had been so silent, so still when he had walked through the front door of his house. Which was the strangest bit of all, considering his family was filled with his relatives. His young cousins played around in the front yard, his little sister, Jazzie, sat on the front steps, starting down at her feet. As he walked up the front drive, ruffling the air of his cousins as he went, his eyes focused on Jazzie. His beautiful little sister was crying, or had been crying, every now and then she sniffed and brought a hand up to wipe her eyes. Then he heard her whimper, the pitiful sound propelling himself forward faster than he thought he could go without breaking into a sprint.

"Jazzie, what's wrong?" He asked her. "Why are you crying?"

Jazzie lifted her head, brushing her long blonde hair from her face. Her bright, beautiful blue eyes were now tinged violet against the raging red that took over the whites of her eyes. The charming smile that was normally on her face, showing off the beauty that was bound to come as she continued to age, was gone, masked with a sad frown, trembling lower jaw. He could see she was seconds away from bursting out into tears once more and his presence wasn't helping.

"Hey, don't worry." Dougie reached out and placed his hands on the side of her head, then leaned in, giving her a kiss on top of her head. "Everything's going to be okay, Jazzie. I promise." He stepped around her and headed inside, calling for his mother as he went. "Mum? What's wrong with Jazzie?"

His footsteps automatically slowed as he traversed through the front of the house and towards the kitchen. He could hear hushed voices wafting towards him in ghostly whispers, chilling his spine as he went. Rounding the corner to the kitchen, he spotted his mother at the head of the kitchen table, face in her hands, shoulders suffering from their own earthquake as the rest of her body sat still. Dougie's blue-green eyes moved around the table where his aunts and uncles were sitting. They appeared just as upset as his mother, all speaking as quietly as she had.

"Mum?" Dougie entered the kitchen. "What's going on? Jazzie's crying…and what are they all doing here?"

His mother, Sam, lifted her head as soon as she had heard Dougie's voice and her face crumpled even further. She tried to speak to him, to explain what was going on, but a whimper similar to Jazzie's came out and she buried her face in her hands. One of his aunts was the one that had to pull him aside and deliver the most devastating news he had ever heard.

"It's your father, Dougie," She said to him. "He's….I'm sorry to tell you this, like you haven't been through enough already…"

Dougie blinked up at his aunt, waiting for her to continue. But he watched as she turned away in anger and clenched her fists together. They shook at her sides then she took in a deep breath and turned back towards the fifteen year old boy that continued to stand in front of her, curiously looking up at her.

"Is it my lizards?" He asked, speaking of the pets up in his room. He had bred them since he was little, making a lot of money off them at festivals and to whoever wanted a good pet. There were still some that he kept as pet of his own, his favorite being Zukie. If something had happened to him. "My snakes? Did one of them die?"

"I wish it were that easy, Dougie," his aunt continued. "I wish it were that easy." She took a deep breath and placed her hand on Dougie's shoulder. "It's your father. He's not dead, nothing happened to him, though I wish that little bugger would drop dead for doing something like this. For doing this to you all."

"What's he done?"

His Aunt then delivered the news. His father had packed up and left the house. No word of warning, no note. Nothing that would've let him or anyone else know there was something going on. All that was left of what had been their perfect house, what he had thought was a perfect family was a squashed lizard on the floor—probably struck on his father's way out without a second glance—being the only weapon that had been needed to completely shatter the illusion.

Now whenever Dougie thought about it, he would get sullen, not particularly very angry. He hadn't known how to deal with his anger when he was a growing up. He got beat up for getting angry at the kids at school that bullied him, he had been ridiculed, bullied, anything that would keep him quiet. So he stayed quiet and unassuming. Anything that would keep him out of harm's way.

He had done that as long as he needed to and still, he had been struck and hurt once more. This time by an action more than physically being hit but it hurt as much and continued to hold a lasting affect against him. He was quiet in interviews, only opened up when he was around people he could trust, drowned himself in things that would keep him from feeling it instead of talking about it. It had worked so far, what was keeping it from working now.

This time, however, he could distract himself with the new tour.

Thankfully.

"As I was saying,"—Fletch's voice brought Dougie back to attention and the bassist turned to see that Jake had finally pulled himself back up off the floor, but as now sitting in another chair—"We feel that this tour is what's going to bring you guys back into that mind space where you can forget what happened with the last album and start fresh. So we're going to do a _massive _show to let people know that McFly isn't going anywhere. We have some shows lined up in the venues and arenas you're familiar with, but we also have an even bigger space we think you're going to like."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" A grin graced Danny's features as he leaned forward. "The Manchester arena?"

Fletch paused. "Okay, yes, you're playing there. But that's not the big news. The big news is that Jake and I managed to score you a week of nights playing at the Royal Albert Hall."

"No way!" Tom's eyes widened as he sat up straight in his seat. "The Royal Albert Hall? Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not kidding," Fletch insisted.

"The Royal Albert Hall is the best place for you guys to have all of the McFly fans come together to hear all of your music," Jake added. "And I mean all of your music. Not just what's been put out recently. We're talking things that have been played from Room on the Third Floor to Above the Noise, including Just My Luck. I have it on good authority that there are a lot of American fans that will come all the way to London just to see this. That week of shows will be the pinnacle of the tour. And it'll be all yours."

"What d'you mean by that?" Dougie leaned back, crossing his legs at the knee. "Does that mean that we're going to be able to actually own a piece of this place? Can I build a rollercoaster in here? I think that'd be sweet, especially coming out from the balconies up there. And it'd come with complementary barf bags."

"I don't think we have the authority for that." Fletch laughed along with the rest of the band, causing Dougie to beam. "But you have complete control over what the design, promotion, artwork; everything for this tour is going to be. It's going to be special and will definitely keep the fans you have now as well as bring in new ones once the news gets out. But there were some other things we want to get your opinion on as well."

Now Dougie was confused. He turned to face his best friends, who mimicked the same expression of confusion on their faces. They've had a lot of creative control on their shows before, but this was different. He could tell from the rapid-pace speech that was coming out of their manager's mouth—Fletch always spoke at top speed, but this was like warp-speed for the man, showcasing how excited he truly was. Even Jake had a clown-wide smile on his face.

This had to be something really important.

"We think that it'd be best if this show was all about you guys," Jake explained. "But that doesn't mean that you can't have some time for a break. And you don't want the audience to get distressed while they wait for you to come back on. So we were wondering what you thought about bringing some friends on tour with you guys to do some songs when you're not onstage." He turned to Fletch and nodded and Fletch got up from his seat and left the room, leaving the door cracked open.

"Which friends?" Tom asked. "One Direction? I think they'd be a great band to help us open it."

"Do you think that's a really great idea, though?" Harry finally stopped drumming his drumsticks and spun them around his fingers. "We've been trying so hard to keep our image from being a 'boyband' and having them open for us might not help those rumors."

"We have rumors that we're all gay and are hooking up with each other, mate," Danny pointed out. "I don't think there's anything we can do to keep that from constantly getting out there." He reached out and kicked the back of Dougie's chair, almost knocking him over. "Because this one is so touchy-feeling all the time."

"I'm not the only one!" Dougie quickly defended himself. "I happen to remember you and Tom sharing a bed many times before." As Harry laughed, Dougie stuck his tongue out at Danny, whose ever present smile widened. The boys turned back to the door of the conference room when they heard the rustling of clothes and saw it pushed back open as Fetch walked inside.

"So, what do you guys think of having these two on tour with you?" Fletch pushed the door to the room open wider and allowed James Bourne and Matt Willis to walk in behind them. "I already talked to them about it and they're already on board with the idea. We just need to know if you guys will want to bring them along as well."

"Mate, of course!" Tom immediately declared. "We wouldn't be McFly without James's help all those years ago."

"Yeah, if they hadn't had justifiably kicked Tom out of the band then we wouldn't be here," Harry added with an evil grin over to Tom, who rolled his eyes. Dougie stifled his giggle, wanting to get in on the jokes, but knowing there was only so far you could go with the jokes about Tom and Busted. It was always a bit of a sore subject.

_But nothing's more fun than taking the mickey out of him every chance we get, _Dougie thought, barely managing to keep his laughter inside. He cleared his throat and nodded over at Matt. "Dude, it'd be awesome if we had another bass player on tour. Now whenever I fuck up onstage I have someone that can cover for me."

"Oh, you mean like we do every night?" Danny shot back.

"But don't you think it's going to cause a lot of rumors to come around?" Tom pointed out as the two ex-Busted members sat down in the chairs that were left open across from them. "I mean, there have been people asking you about Busted getting back together for years."

"…We were talking about that recently, actually," Matt said slowly. "Of bringing the band back. We think it's the perfect time for Busted to get back together. We missed it a lot and nothing was greater than the time when we were in that band. What better way to try than…on tour with some of our best mates?"

"Thanks a lot," Tom said with a half smile.

Dougie smiled as James and Matt exchanged worried glances. There was a lot around the work of trying to bring Busted back that would be problematic. The fans…what if they were excited for it and then the excitement immediately wore off? What if they weren't the same Busted they had been before? What if it wasn't all the same? Not only that, but there was one other thing that they never talked about who was problematic for return of the band as well.

"What about Charlie?"

_Ding, ding, ding, there is it,_ Dougie thought, waiting for the two men to answer Harry's question. _The smelly fart in the room. The awkwardness of seeing someone naked coming out of the shower. The trauma of seeing your grandmother in an adult store. Everything you've never want to be brought up again and it's shoved right into your face._

James cleared his throat. "Ah, well, we don't know about that yet," he admitted. "We…we just want o see how things go. So there'll be some songs of mine that I'll perform, some songs of Matt's that he'll perform. Maybe all of us can do something together, but it's just a way to relive something. Because, like you said, you wouldn't be McFly without Busted."

"Actually, he said we wouldn't be McFly without kicking Tom _out _of Busted," Dougie reminded him. He let out a cry of pain as Tom leaned over and struck a hard punch to his shoulder. Leaning to the side, Dougie held onto his arm and rested his head on the table as he tried to catch his breath.

That gave him the perfect vantage point to see out the door and catch a glimpse of who was approaching before sitting up straight and shouting, "I'D RECOGNIZE THOSE LEGS ANYWHERE!"

Ronan McGuire gave the bassist a funny look as he walked into the room before glancing down at his jean covered legs. "I mean, I know they're good, but they're not _that _good," he remarked. This caused another round of raucous laughter as he was followed by five raven-haired young adults.

"You're not funny, Ronan," the youngest commented, rolling his blue eyes. A pair of dimples appeared in his cheeks as he smirked. "You may think you are, but you're not."

"Whoa! What are you doing here?" Harry practically shouted.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, mate," Patrick Jackson replied, tilting his head to the side Noah, his twin, slapped a hand over his face and remarked, "they _live _here, dummy! Why wouldn't they be in London?"

"I meant here in this building at this point in time, boofhead," Patrick hot back, shoving Noah on the shoulder. Noah shoved him back and stuck his tongue out at his brother as the two moved to follow his brother and sisters to the last chairs around the table. He sat down across from James, suddenly noticing him for the first time and blinked rapidly. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"What are _you _doing here?" Matt shot back. "All of you? Aren't you supposed to be in Australia?"

"You see, there are these little things that have been created that us people on earth like to call planes, yeah?" Riley shot back. "And you see they're like little torpedoes with wings that have seats in them that people take to get around the world faster." She smiled playfully s her siblings laughed.

"To answer your question, Mattie, we caught one of the last flights last night," Rhuben explained. Then paused. "Or would it be this morning for you? I don't know, my brain is so jet lagged and we were just with Gen and Jacqui so…"

"Really?" Tom sat up straight in his seat. "How are they?"

"They're doing fine," Ronan interrupted. "But that's not the reason we're here right now." He cleared his throat and motioned to Jake and Fletch. "They called to let me know that there was space for you guys to perform on McFly's anniversary tour."

"Oh yeah?" James's eyebrows rose. "We're doing it too."

"Awesome!" Sydney declared. "Now all of us can play together again." He then paused as he frowned. "What about Charlie? I mean, if Busted is getting back together—"

"We're not getting back together," James interrupted with almost a snarl to this voice. A heavy silence fell over the room and Sydney chewed his lower lip as he lowered his head. "We don't know, anyway. This is just a thing where Matt and I are playing some of our old songs. Maybe some Busted stuff, who knows? But we wanted to be here for the guys' tour."

"So do we," Noah agreed. "Now that we know _why _we're here, yeah?" He shot Ronan a quick glance and the music producer/managed shrugged n response. "So are we finalizing the set up and everything or are we filling out a contract?"

"All of the above and more," Fletch said. "I can see good things, _big _things, coming out from all of this. But as it stands, we need to make sure that we have a lot of things set up, like tour stops, hotel reservations, press and promotion, money, hotels, bus rentals, gas money…" He scratched the back of his head. "It's going to be a lot of work but I think that we can all pull this off."

"Well, if that's the case, and the tour is going to start and end in London, that means we need a place for these guys to stay." Jake pointed at the Jacksons and Ronan. "And the hotels are too expensive to live in until we leave."

"I don't think a lot of the hotels around here are going to allow many bands to stay in them anyway," Dougie pointed out, twiddling his thumbs. "You know, because of the things that we managed to do. I don't think they want anymore televisions to be thrown out of hotel windows."

"It wasn't that far off the ground," Matt protested. "Personally, I think they were worried over nothing."

"You know what that means don't you?" Ronan asked, turning to his kids, who all shook their heads at him blankly. "It means that you're going to move into a house together again."

"If that's the case, remind me to make sure our insurance can cover it," Fletch remarked, running a hand over his face. "The last thing I need is to get a call saying that they managed to burn the entire house down…again."

"It wasn't the house, Fletch, it was the kitchen," Danny reminded him. "Remember. We forgot the lasagna that was in the oven."

"_You _forgot the lasagna in the oven, mate," Tom said. "The rest of us didn't want it."

"No. No. Remember? We were all hungry and…"

As Tom, Harry, Danny, Dougie, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney all argued over whoever's fault it was that the lasagna that had been conveniently forgotten turned to a burnt brick, Jake, Fletch, and Ronan all shook their heads, wondering if having them all together again was _really_ a good idea.


	4. Chapter 4

**.:Chapter Four:.**

* * *

"Hey, has anyone seen my box of clothes?"

Patrick leaned to the side and opened a box, peering inside. He frowned, closing it back up. "I know I have it somewhere around here. I packed up all of my winter stuff."

"You didn't _only _pack your winter clothes did you?" Jacqui asked, turning to the box that was sitting to her side. She opened it and started to go through them herself before standing up and glancing around the apartment. "I mean, I know you can be slow sometimes, but I don't think you'd do that considering how much you complain about the cold."

"You're not going to let us live that down, are you?" Noah asked, from the other side of the apartment. He swiped his hair from his face and turned to Gen as she finished pulling a large strip of duct tape over the top of a box. "Thanks for letting us leave our stuff here before we took it to the house."

"You're very welcome," Gen replied with a smile. She reached out and ruffled Sydney's hair as he walked past her, balancing two boxes in his hands as he went. "It must be really exciting that you guys are going to be working with McFly again. But this time with James and Matt as well! I'm excited for you."

"Yeah, well, you're not the one that's living with them again," Rhuben commented, sitting on the floor as she finished packing a suitcase. "I swear, if I have to clean up after them as much as I did last time, someone's gonna pay."

Gen laughed and bit off the end of the tape before going over to another box and starting to tape it up as well. Sitting on the floor, she held the box between her knees and started to pull off a long strip of tape. Placing it on one end of the box, she smoothed it over the top and taped it to the other side. Once finished, she set the tape aside and crossed her arms, resting them on top of the box and then placing her chin on it as well. A light sigh escaped her lips as she looked around the floor of the apartment.

Soon she was going to help the Jackson get all of their stuff together before going with them to help move into the house they would be sharing with the McFly and Busted boys. Not only was it a good idea as they would all be working together to get ready for their tour; it was a good way to keep expenses down rather than have them all in hotels, it'd keep their morale up rather than them all being separated in their own homes…there were a lot of reasons as to why it was a good idea and she could agree with them all.

However, she had a particularly selfish, and somewhat clichéd, reason to be hesitant to help her friends move. Simply because she hadn't seen Tom in a long time and wasn't sure what would happen. Their breakup really hadn't been a breakup either, they just…drifted apart. They had too much going on in their lives and the constant distance didn't help. Plus, she had never been _completely _happy with all of the fans that were constantly around him. She didn't know anyone that would be so secure in that aspect of dating a musician, dating someone that had managed to get into such a huge band at such a young age had its own set of problems but the pressure from the media around became worse and worse as time went on.

So going back to Canada to finish her schooling, then going into university before getting the opportunity to live in London for a while had given her a great sense of perspective of the two of them. Not only had she realized by that point that their communication had fallen few and far between, but that they weren't the same people. Tom must've felt the same way for he seemed to pull away on his end as time went on.

_And now you have to see him for hours while you help your friends move in, _Gen thought a second before a t-shirt landed on her head. She picked up the yellow and white garment before casting it aside with a cry of, "Patrick! Watch where you're throwing your things."

"I see you've managed to find your summer clothes," Riley said with a laugh. She held up her hands, shielding her face as Patrick continued to blow through his clothes, tossing them aside. "What are you looking for now, bro?"

"I can't find my wallet," he said.

A collective groan went through the room, causing the bassist to give a sheepish smile before going back to work.

* * *

"Oy, Tom? Who gets this room?" Danny leaned against the balcony and yelled down into the foyer. He laughed as Tom, who had been standing directly beneath him, jumped and slapped his hands over his ears. The blue-eyed guitarist's laughter echoed along the walls of the empty home. "Mate, you should've seen the look on your face!"

"Danny," Tom snapped back. "Please use your inside voice."

"I don't know the meaning of such words."

"You don't know the meaning of _many _words."

Danny laughed again and quickly walked down the remainder of the three flights of stairs. When he reached the bottom, he clapped his hand on Tom's shoulder and gently shook him. "You have to lighten up, mate. We're supposed to be having fun, remember?" He then dropped his hand and crossed his arms. "And I was asking about the bedroom up on the left at the _very_ top of the stairs."

"That's for Riley and Rhuben," Tom explained. "It's one of the bigger ones and considering they actually _like _to get up early I figured it'd be better so that we didn't have to worry about the noise.' He eyed his blue-eyed best friend as he let out an evil laugh and started to rub his hands together. "You're not going to do something stupid are you?"

"Mate, you just answered your own question," Harry said. He came into the house behind them, carefully rolling a suitcase behind him. The sound of the wheels squeaking along the floor caused the other two young men to clasp their hands over their ears. "_Everything _Danny does is stupid, remember? This is the guy that thinks that green beans are actually beans."

Danny shrugged his smile unfading as Tom and Harry laughed together. Dougie came up behind them and walked by, carrying a large tank with two lizards scrambling over each other inside. James and Matt came up behind them carrying their own bags. He couldn't believe this was all happening already. It was only two months ago when they had first started talking about touring together, only two months since they had gone over the contracts and had started a tentative schedule for their appearances and promotions before going off on tour.

And it was all he wanted.

Writing and making music was fun, sure, but touring was the best part. Being able to play music on stage, for people, with his best friends was the most fun he's ever had. It was what he looked forward to every year. But this was different; not only were they touring with the DarkElements again, a band they had grown very close to when they had been touring the US when breaking the American market as well as touring Australia to work on and promote their RADIO:Active album. But now they were doing the next best thing with the best timing in the world. Fans had been asking about it for years, for McFly and Busted to make music together. And now that the possibility was coming back, he couldn't wait to see the looks on the fans' faces when they saw that the two would be performing with them on that tour.

Now if only he could keep a secret long enough.

"Dude, this place is awesome!" Matt declared, dropping his bag to the ground. Placing his hands on his hips, he gave an appreciative look around the foyer. "It's even better than the Busted house. It's even better than _my _house."

"Mate, everything is better than your house, considering your house is a dump," James joked. Matt shoved him hard not he shoulder, knocking him into the wall beside him, creating a small dent with his shoulder. Tom's eyes widened as he went over to inspect the damage.

"Guys, we've only been here for twenty minutes and you're already breaking stuff," he declared. Sighing, he whipped out his phone and took a picture of the wall before sliding it back in his pocket. "If we make sure that the damage we put in here isn't that bad, so we don't have to worry about the security deposit."

"And once again, I'm telling you to lighten up."

Danny looked over at Dougie, who suddenly gasped loudly, his eye widening as he placed the lizard cage on the ground and peeked out into the living room. He then came back to the foyer, his eyes shining with the familiar look of mischief that the McFly boys had grown accustomed to. "Let's play hide and seek!"

"Hide and seek?" James's nose wrinkled. "Why hide and seek?"

"Every time we go into a new house or something we inevitably end up pla9ing something, one time we had a massive water war, the next time we built forts and played capture the flag. This place is _perfect _for hide and seek."

"Okay then." Harry stepped forward and slapped Dougie on the arm as hard as he could. "YOU'RE IT!" He took off up the stairs as James and Matt immediately turned towards the living room and disappeared around the corner.

Dougie brought his hands up to his face, covering his eyes, and started to count loudly. "One…two…three…four…" Sensing Tom and Danny still standing by him, Dougie spread open his fingers and peeked out at them. "Guys, c'mon, this isn't how you play."

"I'm not going to play unless Tom plays," Danny said. He gave Dougie a pointed look saying, _help me convince him to play_, which Dougie quickly caught on to. Nothing was more fun than messing with Tom, other than when he got in on the jokes as well.

"We have too much work to do," Tom insisted. Though judging by the tone of his voice, Danny could tell that the 'leader' of McFly was already starting to break his resolve. "We have to get the rest of the bedding and stuff in and then we need to go grocery shopping and go over the house rules."

_House rules, of course. Tom can't go more than a few hours without having to have at least some sort of rule. _The only time Danny didn't see the boy so serious was when it was the night of a show or when they had some time off. Then he was bouncing around and acting as silly and goofy as the rest of the boys were. Either that or when he wasn't playing with the massive collection of Disney paraphernalia that he had someone managed to accumulate over the years. Then Tom was the exciting Tom, the one that laughed the hardest and loudest compared to the others.

But then, he had also noticed there would be a time where Tom was the most irritable. He would seem to draw in on himself and Danny found himself arguing with him more often than usual. The two of them being the guitarists in the band made it so they spent the most time together; especially in the means of writing songs, working out the melodies, and recording. More often than not when it came time to record, Tom and Danny were in the studio longer and more often than Dougie and Harry—who recorded the bass and drums separately, as Danny worked lead guitar and sometimes doubled up on rhythm for recording while Tom worked mostly on rhythm guitar.

Even now, glancing at Tom, Danny was afraid that Tom was going back to that point. But this was supposed to be fun; they couldn't worry about things like that now. They were only just starting and he didn't want it to end before it began.

"C'mon Tom, you can count with Dougie and try and find us," Danny pressured. "That way you can make sure that Dougie doesn't get into anything. You know how much of a klutz he is."

"Good. Let's go, Tom!" Dougie grabbed onto Tom's wrist and started to drag him towards the stairs despite not having finished his counting yet. Once they were out of the room, Danny took the opportunity to slide into the hall closet, carefully leaving the door cracked as it had been when they arrived.

Danny continued to hide in the closet, listening as Dougie raced back and forth along the house screaming at the top of his lungs, the sound of thudding feet and falling furniture accompanying it. Every now and then he could her Tom's protests for Dougie to keep everything clean, seconds before another crashing sound was heard. He had started to wonder how long he was going to have to hide in the closet before someone tried to find him. Seconds later, he heard footsteps in the foyer and braced himself for a minute before jumping out with a scream, attempting to scare Dougie.

Instead, he leapt out in front of Sydney, who yelped in surprise before turning and launching himself on top of Noah's head, scrambling to stay up as the

"Way to go, Danny, you scared a little boy, yeah?" Riley commented, watching as her brother continued to hold his vice-grip atop of Noah's head, the drummer trying in vain to coax him down. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious, sis?" Rhuben motioned towards Danny before crossing her arms as she flashed a toothy smile. "He's coming out of the closet. It makes a lot of sense, yeah?"

"Oh c'mon, love, you know you're the only one for me," Danny said. He walked over and put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side. "My offer for a destination wedding still stands, if you're interested."

"Pass." Rhuben reached up a hand and pushed Danny's head away from her until he was an arm's length away. "For one, I'm too young to get married, and two, it's not the right time of year for a destination wedding. Not unless you want a hurricane to blow through."

"I don't know, I think that'd make things kind of exciting," Jacqui pointed out as she came into the house after them, Gen by her side. "It'd bring a whole new meaning to the term 'blown away'." She wiggled her eyebrows, causing the others to laugh. All of a sudden there was the sound of rapid footsteps coming down the stairs and Dougie jumped over the last few steps, landing on the ground behind them with a loud slam.

Gen and Jacqui screamed and whirled around to face the bass player, who reached out and slapped Danny on the back. "I FOUND YOU! You're it next, Danny!"

"Dougie? What'd you do? Who screamed?" Tom came flying around the corner of the banister and stopped short, tightening his grip on the railing; nearly falling over once he spotted Gen. He quickly composed himself before giving a quick smile. "Gen…hi."

"Hi, Tom," Gen replied with a small smile. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you." Tom took a few steps down the stairs, still looking at her. "And you?"

"Fine, thanks."

"And I'm doing fine, too," Jacqui added, breaking Tom out of his trance. "I know you didn't ask, but I thought I'd let you know." She waved to her blond friend before turning to Dougie. "Playing a game of hide and seek, I see?"

"Yes, ma'am." Dougie puffed out his chest with pride. "And I was the first one it and I found everyone! And Danny was last so it's his turn."

"Where are James and Matt?" Sydney asked, finally getting off of Noah's head. He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked around. "Aren't they supposed to be here, too?"

"Dougie tied them to the legs of the bed in the master bedroom," Tom explained with a light roll of his eyes. "He found our exercise jump ropes and wanted to make sure they didn't get away. I think they're still there, actually."

"I say leave em'," Dougie piped up.

"Clearly you lot still haven't matured over the years," Riley remarked. She rubbed her forehead. "I'll untie them from the bed, you guys start bringing in the rest of the stuff." She then grabbed onto Dougie by the shirt collar as he tried to creep away. "You're not getting away that easily."

"Geez, Riles, why am I not surprised that you know how to untie Dougie's knots," Patrick said with an inappropriate grin, causing Danny to cackle and the red loving sister to reach out and whack him on the back of the head.

Dougie smiled as he was pulled up the stairs behind the raven haired girl. "She's really into the kinky stuff." He cried out in pain as Riley reached over and grabbed onto his nipple, twisting it as hard as she could. "Ow! See?"

"This is a great place you guys," Jacqui said as she took in the foyer. "Much better than the last one." She tapped her jaw with her index finger. "But I think it looks too new." Her eyes then landed on the dent in the wall and nodded. "Never mind, they already broke it in."

"I bet that didn't last long," Gen laughed quietly. She flicked her hair out of her face before turning to Tom. "Would I be correct in assuming that it was Harry and Dougie that did this?"

"Matt and James, actually," Tom corrected her. He cleared his throat before scratching the back of his neck. "Did you guys come to help them move in?"

"Yeah, you know they can be just as rambunctious as you are." She reached out and poked Patrick in the back. "Especially this one. He had us looking for his wallet for a half hour before remembering it was in his back pocket."

"I didn't feel it, so sue me!" Patrick rolled his eyes. "Geez, you make one bloody mistake and the next thing you know you're branded for life." He rubbed his hands together as he stepped into the foyer and looked out towards the living room, dining room, and kitchen. "Wow, Ronan really went all out this time." He turned back to Tom. "Which rooms are ours?"

"The ones that haven't already been torn apart," Tom replied, pointing over his shoulder. "Go ahead." He was cut off as the rest of the band came back down the stairs all but Dougie appearing irritated, as Dougie grinned.

"I win!" He declared.

"Hey," James greeted the Jacksons, Gen, and Jacqui. "You finally got here."

"Barely," Rhuben said.

Danny waved his hands impatiently. "Yes, yes, we're all here. And now that we are, let's order some pizza and have a good time. House warming party and all that. The first night in a new place is supposed to be fun." He placed his hands on his chest. "Now, it's my turn to be the person to seek…" he smiled flirtatiously as Rhuben. "Do you want to be my partner?"

"I'd rather stay hidden," she replied.

"Okay, but you'll be the first one I go after," Danny warned her.

"Shocker," Harry remarked. He then turned to Jacqui and grinned. If he felt as nervous as Tom did about seeing Gen, he didn't show it. Then again, Harry had always been known as the one that had the most confidence out of all of the boys. If he was nervous, he usually deflected from it with a witty joke or by changing the subject. If not going to some other means that was to attract his attention. "Do you want to play too?"

Similarly for Harry, if Jacqui felt awkward being around Harry after the way _their _relationship had ended, she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled and patted him on the chest saying, "if I can hide with you, of course."

"Danny's it!" Dougie declared, charging towards the basement. "Everybody hide."

As the others moved off to get into their hiding places, the phone started to ring. Harry, who was the closest to it, glanced at the Caller ID and frowned before picking it up. He didn't recognize the number. "Hello? Yes, he's here. May I ask who is calling?" Danny, who had started to go to the living room to start counting, turning back towards Harry, noticing the sudden silence that surrounded him. And as he watched, Harry's shoulders tensed, moving up towards his ears as his back muscles tense beneath his thin t-shirt. "Oh…okay, well, you can ask him. He's right here…" Harry trailed off as he turned and held the phone out. "Danny, it's for you."

"Really?" Danny's eyebrows rose in confusion before he smiled, ambling over to his friend. "Who is it?" He pulled the phone out of Harry's grasp and started to put it up to his ear.

"Your father."

At that, Danny quickly jerked the phone away and slammed it back on the cradle. It was the first time in a long time that Danny Jones didn't have a smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**.:Chapter Five:.**

* * *

Harry leapt out of bed, and promptly stubbed the front of his foot on a box that was sitting on the floor. Cursing loudly, he jumped up and down, holding onto the front of his foot as he waited for the pain to subside. In the bed on the other side of the room, Dougie flipped around and cracked open an eye, watching the drummer bounce around.

The blond lifted a hand and brushed his mess of hair off his forehead before running his fingers over the stubble that appeared through his beard. "Dude, I know you won Strictly, but you don't like to dance. Stop trying."

"I'm not dancing," Harry ground out through gritted teeth. He lowered his foot to the floor and turned back to his best friend. "I just stubbed my toe on this stupid box by the bed." He placed his foot on top of the box and with a hard shove, moved it towards Dougie. "What's in this thing anyway?"

"It's my habitats for my lizards." Dougie yawned and buried himself into his blankets.

"And where are the lizards?"

"Where do you think?"

"Dougie!"

"They're in the bathroom. Don't worry; I made a really good habitat for them while we were having our massive pillow fight." Now a smarmy smile slid onto Dougie's face, though only the crinkling of his eyes were visible above the line of his blanket that covered him. "You didn't think I'd want to harm my babies do you?"

"Considering it's probably the only way that you'll actually have children…" Harry laughed and turned, jumping on top of his friend. He grabbed onto the front of Dougie's shirt and started to shake him. "Get up. Now get up. We have to get a workout in."

"Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not."

"We just got here, we're not even fucking unpacked yet and the first thing you want to do is go work-out?" Dougie buried further underneath his blankets, grabbing handfuls and pulling it down around him. "You're mental, man. Completely mental. I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to sleep."

"Dougie!" Harry tried to pull the blankets off of the bed, but Dougie held them in a steel grip. "Dougie, get up."

"Go away, I'm sleeping!"

"Dougs."

Dougie loudly made the sounds of snoring and rolled onto his side. Rolling his eyes, Harry reached out and underneath the blankets. Groping around, laughing when Dougie let out a shriek and then said, "I don't know what you were looking for but it's clearly not that," Harry grabbed onto Dougie's ankle and pulled hard, pulling him out of the bed. "Okay, you weirdo. I'm up. You can now subject me to whatever torture you have on your sick little mind." He leaned back and held his arms out, tilting his head back so that his hair dusted the floor. "Take me!"

Harry then took a step back, a light laugh escaping his lips. "You know, I think I liked you better when you were shy and quiet. Get your shoes on." He went over to the dresser and quickly pulled on a pair of work-out shorts over his boxer and grabbed onto his shoes. "And I'm not tying them for you." He slipped out of the room, holding his shoes in his hand.

Creeping down the hall, he listened into Tom's and Danny's room to be sure they were asleep before bringing up the shoes and batting them against the door and darting inside. "C'mon, wake up!" He clapped the bottoms of the shoes together as he marched in a circle. "C'mon, c'mon. We have to get started. We're not going to be ready for tour if we're not ready to go on stage."

"Okay, I'm up," Tom mumbled, lying on his back, an arm over his face.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. He sat up, his short hair sticking up all over the place. "We're ready. Let's go." He blinked at the drummer then fell back onto his bed, pulling a pillow down underneath his head. Unlike Dougie, Harry knew that Tom and Danny truly were able to get up within the first few minutes that they were awakened and were quick to get the day started whenever hard work had to be done for the tour. He knew that Dougie was going to be need to be awakened once more before he was really able to get started.

Moving through the rest of the house was pretty easy, James and Matt were pretty easy to awaken, and the Jacksons, as Harry remembered, were usually the first ones up. Though this time, he knew was due to the sudden change in time zones and their scheduling that caused jet lag to have them up early. It was funny, though, to see the night before where they had fallen asleep, while hiding, in the middle of the house wide pillow fight. Moving everything into the house and jet lag must've hit them harder than they expected, especially if Sydney was able to get comfortable enough to fall asleep in an empty wine cabinet.

"Hey, Harry," the youngest band member greeted. He walked into the gym room with a bright smile on his face. "You seem to be up early. Always have to get in that first workout, yeah?" Dimples appearing in his cheeks.

"You know me, I take my workouts very seriously," Harry agreed. He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "And because it's funny to see how much the other guys hate me whenever I put them through the first day." Sydney grinned and raised his hand, and Harry gave him a high-five.

Within the next few minutes, the rest of the Jacksons were outside with Jams, Matt, Tom, Danny, and Dougie following behind them. "I didn't know there was such a thing as seven in the morning," Matt mumbled, squinting one eye against the sun. "Usually when it existed I would already be asleep. Or hungover."

"How long has it been since your last drink, mate?" Riley asked, twisting her body back and forth, cracking her back. "I can't imagine that it's the easiest thing in the world to get through."

Matt shrugged, bobbing his head back and forth. "The hardest thing is trying to restrain yourself when you're in a scenario when there's so much of it around you." He licked his lips. "And to answer your first question I've been sober for almost five years now."

"Congrats, mate," Noah said with a warm smile. "We're proud of you."

"Thanks."

Harry nodded and rubbed his hands together as the rest of the group went to the backyard, Tom dragging Dougie by the wrist as the bassist seemed trying to reach back for the house, making audible sounds of annoyance as he went. "If we're going to work out this early in the morning, Dougie, then you are, too," Rhuben called over to him, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, but you guys are all used to it," Dougie complained, crossing his arms. "You're from Australia, where everything is backwards. Early in the morning is probably late at night for you. The water in the toilets spin the wrong way, it's not natural."

The three bands laughed at Dougie's outburst and Harry pressed his palms together as he looked over the group in front of him. Some were in better shape than others, he knew that. But that was also subjective as being in shape meant something different to everyone else. And, of course, he couldn't go straight ahead and throw them into a certain routine, but he did have to get a good idea of what was going to help or hurt them.

Patrick seemed to have noticed his plight for he spoke up after a minute of watching Harry. "Why don't we test to see how we are with our physicality in general? Run for a few minutes; see how long it takes for us to tire out, yeah? Maybe lift some weights, get an idea of how many reps we can get in."

"For Rhu it'll be nothing," Sydney piped up, motioning over to his drummer sister. "Her upper body strength still tanks."

"I can help you with that, love," Danny offered. He made a show of lifting his arms, flexing his muscles. "My guns speak volumes."

"Mm, they look more like water pistols to me," Riley remarked, reaching out and squeezing her hand around his bicep. Her eyes then widened as she got a good look at the tattoos that lined up his arm, the last time she had seen him he only had tattoos on his legs. "Whoa," she remarked. "Nice artwork." She then paused. "Is it weird that I'm strangely attracted to you because you have a sleeve?"

"Well, you're the only one that I dated, might as well give it a shot," Danny replied. Then he paused, his eyes narrowing as he leaned closer to her, studying her face. "Unless you're Rhuben trying to trick me into thinking you're your sister just so you could have a good laugh."

Riley frowned, dropping Danny's arm. "And now it's gone."

"Way to go, Dan," Tom said with a half smile of amusement. "You just ruined a chance at every man's fantasy."

"I didn't need to know that," Sydney remarked.

"Are you really that surprised?" James asked with a snort, ignoring Sydney's comment. "He can hardly tell either of them apart even if one of them completely dyed their hair."

Harry smiled and cleared his throat. "Okay, so what we're going to do is, Patrick and I are going to see where we are when it comes to our fitness in general. And then we can come up with some sort of a workout that we can all follow, to make sure we're in top shape for our shows. Does that sound good?" His friends all nodded and he explained that half of the group was going to start off on the treadmills while the other half would be working on lifting weights and then the groups would switch after about a half hour.

Harry lifted himself up onto a treadmill and started up the machine. He moved it up towards a high speed and let out a deep breath before regulating his breathing as he ran along the belt that raced by under his feet. Lifting his gaze, he focused his attention on the mirror that sat not he room across from him. He had to stay focused, had to make sure everything was perfectly in place for the band to continue to go higher and higher as it could. In that case, he had to better himself.

For everything in his life, Harry attacked it with a 'can do' attitude. Yes, it made people around him think that he had some sort of a superiority complex, that he felt he was better than everyone else, that he didn't need anyone else to make things in life work. He had it said to him so many times where, at first, he was incredibly surprised by it, actually being someone that found himself alone more than anyone would assume. Nearly every school he had gone to, people had seemed to take that sort of stance with him and he became used to having to entertain himself while others would make up rumors about him and excuses to not hang out. That's truly how he had gotten into drumming. After having had taken some classes with band in percussion, he got his own crappy drum kit and started to play along to the music he enjoyed. Did he ever think it would take him to being one of the biggest bands in the UK and becoming friends with some of the best people he had ever met?

No, not in a million years.

Did he think it'd bring him to some of the best experiences he's ever had in his life? No, he never thought he would be on Strictly Come Dancing or do anything of the sort, dancing wasn't his favorite activity to do other than something that had him working competitively. And he managed to win that. There were so many things brought his way that he couldn't imagine ever getting the chance later and yet…he still wasn't as happy.

Nearly every day, no matter what exciting things came his way, there was always a moment where he felt that he wasn't happy, that there was something missing. Maybe it was the adrenaline in him, he was always trying to chase the next high, the next thing that would give him the same sort of adventure and rush that he so craved. It was probably the same reason why he liked to work out so much; it gave him the sense that there was always something for him to improve upon.

There was always more weight he could lift, more push-ups he could do, more sit-ups, he could hold a longer plank, hold a longer handstand, hold a longer squat, run a faster mile, run at a consistent pace longer. And despite all of that he knew that elated feeling was long lasting and the only thing that would make him feel better in the long run was the bottom of that bottle.

* * *

**A/N: **I planned for this chapter to be longer and less of a filler, but with things that have greatly put mei n a bad mood today, it's kind of short. But it has set up the plots for each of the McFly boys, so there's that. Next chapter, things will move a lot faster.

Cheers,

-Riles


	6. Chapter 6

**.:Chapter Six:.**

* * *

"So what are we doing today?" Danny asked, running a hand over his face as he looked down into his oatmeal bowl. "A bunch of promotion?"

"No, mate, we're not doing promotion until the news breaks," Harry pointed out. He pushed his cereal bowl away from him, resting his hands on his stomach. "That's not going to happen until we start doing our shows as Royal Albert. Even then, you know Jake and Fletch will do everything they can to be sure it won't leak until then even. Once people see pictures of all of us together, they'll speculate. But that's all we can have happen."

"I think we're signing contracts today," Sydney piped up, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. The youngest member of the house looked around at his friends as he continued. "To be sure that we don't back out of this, and because we have new albums we need to put out. Especially if we want there to be new music that's done at the show." He nodded over at McFly. "You lot have been recording a lot of different things, doing a different sound, yeah?"

"I think that's the point of having been in a band for so long," Tom said slowly. "To continue to write about what's going on in our lives and things that people can relate to. Which is definitely what we tried to do with the songs Love is Easy and Love is on the Radio." He ran his hands over the other, trying to stop the skin splitting grin that was about to spill over his face.

This was it, this was the start of new things and he couldn't help but be excited. Like he was invincible and there was nothing that could stop them. He always enjoyed this feeling, the high that had him feel like he was on top of the world and nothing could bring him down. However, he was very aware there would be a time where his happiness and that excited feeling would fall down. Down to the darkest depths he didn't think he would be able to pull himself out of.

It always happened at some point. After having finished Room on the Third Floor, he had fallen into a bit of a depression and had a fallout with the boys that helped spur along Wonderland, then there was Motion in the Ocean where he became happy again, then Radio:Active where he started to fall, then Above the Noise…he had managed to stay up for so long he wondered when the next time he was falling was coming. Would it be later that night? When he woke up the next morning? Would he see the alien in the window again? Would it continue to haunt him until he had no choice but to go along with it?

_Don't think about it, Tom; just think about going to the studio and singing that contract. The band'll keep going and things will get better. You'll see. _Clearing his throat, he continued. "But now we need to focus on the sort of things we're going to be doing with these shows. We only have a few nights at RAH and these shows are for the fans, it needs to be great."

"Do you think you'll start working on new compositions of old songs?" Rhuben asked. She sat at the head of the table, her cheek resting in her hand as she scrolled through her phone with her free hand. "Or that you'll come up with some new stuff? Like you said you always want to do a new sound, but then there's not wanting to alienate people either, yeah?"

_You had to say that, didn't you? _Tom asked, as the image of the alien at the window suddenly appeared in his head once more. He shuddered and brought his hands up, brushing back his hair. "Well what about you guys?" He asked the Jacksons, noticing that they all stiffened at the subject of conversation turning to them. "You're still going along with the same sort of music you've done before, right?"

Sydney suddenly pushed back his seat with a loud creaking sound across the floor, causing Dougie to shoot away, bringing his face out of the oatmeal bowl that he had fallen asleep in. "I'm awake!" He cried, eyelids drooping.

Riley reached over and pushed his face back into the bowl. "Go to sleep, Dougie."

"I'm going to go get dressed," Sydney announced before getting up from his seat and leaving the kitchen. "Call me when it's time to go." Tom, Harry, and Danny all exchanged a glance as Noah looked over at Riley, who tilted her head to the side, and he nodded before getting up and following his brother out of the room.

Tom chewed his lower lip for a moment before speaking. "Did I say something wrong?"

"It's not that you said anything wrong more than it's still a bit of a sore subject," Patrick replied. He pulled his knee up and rested his arm across the top. "Now that Robert's gone we've been trying to break away from the sort of music that we wrote while he was still around. But that seems to be our most popular kind of sound, though we've been branching away from it for a while."

"Adding in the fact that we're constantly asked about it, what our life is like now that he's gone, what our future music is going to be, are we still in contact with him…" Riley waved a hand, showing that the questions continued to go on and on. "It gets to be a bit old." She looked up as James and Matt walked into the room, looking as worse for the wear as the rest of the band members did. "Breakfast is on the counter."

James looked over at it and his upper lip curled. "Aww, just oatmeal and cereal?"

"I wouldn't complain, mate," Harry quickly warned him as Riley glared. "I made that mistake and my ears are still ringing from her yelling at me."

"Its fine," Matt reassured her. "He's just in a bad mood because of a phone call we had with Fletch." He dumped a bowl of cereal and drowned it in milk before joining the bands at the table. "It's nothing too important, just talking about what the future of Busted is going to be after this."

"Down the fucking tubes, that's what'll happen," James remarked. He dropped his bowl onto the table so hard that it caused Dougie to shoot awake once more, eyes wide. Grabbing a napkin he started to wipe the food off his face before shrugging and smoothing it onto his skin causing Harry and Danny to laugh as Tom rolled his eyes.

Then Danny raised an eyebrow as he turned to James. "Why do I get the feeling that you're not happy with the idea that Fletch has for you."

Rhuben snorted. "Have you? I seem to recall that you guys going to those movie premieres in America on a double-decker bus wasn't really a highlight for you guys." She put down her phone and slouched in her seat. "Though those suits that you guys wore made us entertained for a long time."

"Really? I thought I was going to have a brain aneurism," Riley said, causing the guys to laugh. "No offense, but you lot have had some pretty horrendous looks over the years."

"So have you," Matt pointed out. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but a jean skirt and a t-shirt don't particularly do well on a red carpet."

"Yeah, but we were young, we had an excuse."

"And now?"

Patrick laughed loudly as Tom pushed back his seat. "We should start getting ready to go to the studio. You know Fletch hates it when we're late. I think Tommy has a car coming to pick us up as it is." He gathered the empty bowls that were stacked in the middle of the table, tossed a napkin to Dougie, telling him to clean himself up, and then went up the stairs and to the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he filled the sink up with water and started to brush his teeth.

He only went through a few brushes before he saw something move out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't have to turn his head to know what it was. It was the alien again. It used to only stand in the window and watch him while he slept; making it impossible for him to sleep, but now there it was, haunting him in the bathroom. Maybe that was the point. That it only attacked him when he was on his own, when there was no one else around to make sure he would stay safe.

Keeping his head down, Tom continued to brush his teeth, focusing on getting the bristles over each and every tooth. The longer he stayed there, showing that he wasn't afraid, the quicker it would go away, leave him alone, and he'd only have to face it when it was dark once more.

All of a sudden there was a loud crashing sound followed by a brief pause and hysterical laughter. Tom sighed loudly, knowing deep down in his bones that someone had to have done something stupid and he was more than likely going to have to fix it all over again. They _did _have to quickly hide that vase that they had managed to break after that massive pillow-fight, thought that time it was his fault. He just hoped that Fletch wasn't going to come to the house anytime soon. Or else he would wonder about that painting that suddenly moved as well.

Brushing aside the fear of the alien that continued to swarm around him, Tom spat into the sink and rinsed off his toothbrush before going to his room. He stopped, tilting his head to the side when he spotted Danny hiding down the side of his bed, covered in pillows.

"Do I want to know?" Tom asked as he changed into his clothes.

"I accidently threw Harry into a wall while we were wrestling and now he wants to kill me," Danny replied. He brought a finger up to his mouth. "Shhh, I can't have him find me." He ducked back down the side of Tom's bed, causing the leader of McFly to shake his head when he noticed the tuft of brown hair poking out the top. "Trust me, mate, he's to dumb enough to miss you."

"You'd think that, but he was the one that missed me and crashed into a wall."

"I thought you said you threw him."

"That too."

Tom sighed loudly and reached down, grabbing onto Danny's arm. "Danny, get out from behind the bed." The freckled man resisted, pulling as hard as he could before wiggling out of Tom's grasp. Picking up a pillow, he whacked away at Tom's arm, trying to keep him back. Tom frowned as he continued to try and grab onto his friend. "Danny, I'm not kidding, get out from behind there."

"No!"

"Danny!"

Twisting around onto his back, Danny stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at Tom. Eyes narrowing with rage, Tom grabbed onto Danny's arms and pulled him as hard as he could out from beside the bed. "Dammit, Danny! Get out from behind the fucking bed, get dressed and let's go!" Danny stared, wide-eyed at his best friend and Tom let him go and turned towards the door. Flinging it open, he found Dougie kneeling on the ground, trying to hear into the room as Harry stood above him, arms crossed.

"Oh!" Dougie sat back on his heels and gave an impish smile. "Hi!"

Harry ignored the youngest band member and regarded Tom with a narrowed glance. He then looked back at Danny, who continued to sit on the end of the bed, staring at Tom with wide eyes. Then the drummer turned back to Tom, whose face resembled a tomato. It even appeared that smoke was about to come from his ears.

"Is everything okay?" Harry tentatively ventured.

"I'm fine!" Tom snapped. He pushed by Harry and Dougie, hurrying towards the stairs as quickly as he could go. "Can we go, please?"

* * *

Charlie Simpson let out a flurry of curses out from under his breath as he heard the sound of a fist being pounded against the front door of his hotel room. Pushing himself out of the mountain of pillows that covered his bed, he flung back the covers and ran the heels of his palms over his eyes as he stumbled towards the front door. Kicking aside the shoes, notebooks, papers, packets of guitar strings, and the odd sweatshirt hat he left lying around, Charlie reached the door and slumped against it.

Pressing the side of his face against the door, the tall young man turned his head to the side and looked through the peephole. Instantly recognizing the face of his former manager he let out a light sigh, turning from the peephole and pressed his forehead against the painted wood. He could either pretend to still be asleep and reduce the risk of getting 'Fletched' all over again, something that no matter how long he hadn't been in Busted he would never forget or open the door and get it over with. The man was persistent, he would give him that, and having worked with him for so long seemed to give him the foresight to know that not even Charlie could sleep through his insistence of being woken up.

Jerking his head back as there was another round a fist pounding on the door, Charlie reached out and grabbed onto the deadbolt and slid it back before opening the door. "Good morning, Fletch," he managed to mumble through his sleep.

"Up and at em', Charlie, we've got some important things to discuss," Fletch said, clapping his hands together. Charlie stared at him for a moment before opening the door wider, allowing his former manager to go through the door. Fletch immediately noticed the state of his hotel room and shook his head. "Mate, I knew you were messy but this is just ridiculous."

The two shared a smile before Charlie ran a hand through his hair. "Shut up, Fletch."

"I'd at least like it if you could put on some pants."

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie grabbed a pair of jeans that lay haphazardly on the back of a desk chair and slid them on. "So what brings you here so early?" He went over to the coffee maker and jabbed the ON button, staring at it as he waited for it to make him a cup. "I didn't know that you still went around making wake-up calls."

"Charlie, it's the afternoon."

"I was up late."

"Songwriting?"

Turning away from the coffee maker with a fresh cup in his hand, Charlie handed it over to Fletch before starting a cup of his own. "Amongst other things." He motioned for Fletch to sit down in the desk chair before perching on the end of his bed. "So what brings you by? I don't think I ever remember you doing a house call." He paused. "Other than the time when Matt and I threw all of the furniture out of the hotel room and you said we were acting 'too much like rockstars'." Charlie shook his head as he took a long drink of coffee, instantly waking up.

He hadn't thought about that night or about Busted in a long while. To be honest, the only time he thought about Busted was when fans asked him about it because there was so much animosity that was left there. Between him and James anyway. The two of them had always butted heads since the start of the band; what direction they wanted to go, the sort of music they wanted to put out, who was going to be the lead on a certain song, what song was going to go on what album. It didn't help that there were constant arguments from the fans that determined who was the better musician or singer or who was the one that was the leader of the band. Then there was Matt, who was constantly stuck in the middle; the one that tried to keep the peace, to keep them laughing…and tried to stay out of it whenever they were in a fight.

Eventually Charlie couldn't take it anymore and decided to branch out and do the music he wanted to do. He hadn't talked to James and Matt in years because of what happened. Now thinking about it, he knew things didn't have to turn out the way they had. But still, some things couldn't be taken back.

"Yes, well, that wasn't a fun conversation to have with the hotel staff," Fletch reminded his friend.

"We were drunk," Charlie pointed out.

"That's not an excuse."

"I didn't say it was, mate, I'm just saying that you don't always think right when you're drunk. And…I have no idea why Matt thought it was a good idea, but he persuaded me and the next thing I know, we're trying hard not laugh like a bunch of lunatics while you rip into us."

"I should've known it was Matt's idea." Fletch smiled. "Seems like a real 'Matt' thing to do." He laughed as Charlie nodded, his smile fading. "You know, not a lot has changed with him, but a lot of it has as well. It's been a long time."

"Mate, I don't want to talk about this. Why did you come by?" Charlie set his coffee aside and clasped his hands together between his knees. Leaning forward, he studied his friend. Fletch regarded him with an expression that was nothing short of innocence. He always did manage to keep his cards close to him until the time was needed to show them. "It couldn't have been a coincidence that you found me here when no one else knows."

"I make it a point to know where my employees are."

"Employee?"

"There is something that I wanted to speak with you about but I need you to keep an open mind." Now Fletch moved his coffee aside and leaned forward. His face held an expression that Charlie could only determine to be smugness, as if he knew something Charlie didn't. "It'll be announced soon, but we want to be sure that the press doesn't get wind of it. Its McFly's anniversary soon."

There was a short moment of silence that let Charlie know that Fletch expected him to say something to it. "Congratulations to them. I always knew they would go far with their band."

"Too right. Though the same was thought for Busted as well."

"Fletch…"

"Charlie, the reason I'm here is because of opportunity. Right now seems to be the best time for this to happen, there isn't any other time that would for a comeback and we're all very aware of it."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean 'we'?"

There was another moment of silence where Fletch's eyes rose as if to say _Well, can you figure it out? _And it took Charlie only a few moments before he did. He let out a short sigh, flopping back onto the bed, draping his arms over his eyes. "I thought I'd get a reaction out of you, but I didn't think it would be like this, mate. It's been years."

"I'm aware of that, Fletch, but that doesn't mean that things are going to be well between us for Busted to make a comeback. As it is, I'm only on a short break from my own stuff. I wouldn't have enough time to write music, record, promote, and do a tour all under Busted."

"I didn't say anything of the sort, you jumped to that conclusion. The point, Charlie, is that McFly are doing an anniversary tour, the DarkElements are opening for them, and James and Matt are going to be singing some Busted songs with them. The timing is right for them; they're all for starting up Busted again if this works out. And that just leaves you."

Charlie let out a slow breath as he removed his arms from his eyes, but he continued to stare at the ceiling. James and Matt were all for starting Busted again. Did that mean they were all for starting it without him? When he left he had said he never wanted to go back into Busted again, even if he were asked, but now…it hurt that Fletch was the only one asking. Though as smart as Fletch was, he had to know the animosity that was bound to come if the other two were to swallow their pride and ask him. _Not that I think they would even do it. Not James anyway…_

"So what do you say, mate?" Fletch asked him. "Do you think you can try it again?"

Sitting up, Charlie's gaze settled on Fletch with a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes. "Ask Matt and James that and get back to me."

* * *

**A/N: **Next chapter starts their work with their bands, their music, shows, recording, things like that. As well as it goes into other characters' POV. Especially as I need to show more of the Jacksons, Gen, and Jacqui.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	7. Chapter 7

**.:Chapter Seven:.**

* * *

Sydney pulled a baseball cap low over his head, backwards, as he followed his friends, brothers, and sisters into the UK's expansion of Island Records. He had been there many times before and knew it operated the same way that Island US and Island Australia both worked, having been a part of Island US when he and his siblings and McFly were trying to release their work to the American market, as well as almost having worked with Island Records Aus when first starting out his band.

It was a strange thought, to know that he had spent most of his life, about ten years of it, in the music industry as well as in the public eye. Not only just _being _in the public eye, but growing up in it. He was five when he first started to really get into music, after having had his talents at nearly every instrument he picked up realized by his foster father, Robert Jackson. Before then he was carting his siblings around trying to get them noticed by those in record companies so that they could get a deal.

It worked as they had met and somewhat-quickly became friends with Ronan McGuire, their producer and best friend. Without him he was sure they wouldn't have managed the highly successful career they had in their home country of Australia and surrounding countries, without him they wouldn't have gone out to America to test the market, met Jake or the McFly boys, and started some of the best friendships they had. Their career in the American market wasn't as successful as they had hoped, neither was McFly's, nor Busted's from years before, but it was an amazing experience.

Now being back with the boys again, who were some of his best friends and meshed in with his brothers and sisters as extensions of his family, he couldn't wait to see what this new venture was going to bring to them. To all of them.

"Wow, haven't been here in a long time," Patrick remarked as he looked around the lobby and office spaces.

The record company was in full swing like always with people milling back and forth, some with guitars strapped to their backs, drumsticks in their hands, others had expression of awe on their faces as they went by, signaling they had either just been signed to the label—as the expressions matched that of all of theirs when they had first signed with their respective record deals—and those that talked quietly to themselves, probably having to choose between which deal to take.

The twenty-year old's nose wrinkled as he looked around. "You'd think all of these companies would try to be different, yeah? Every Island Records lobby is all the same."

"It's probably done to make sure that you know how to get around," Sydney remarked with a half smile. "I mean, it can get so confusing and so easy to be lost when you have nothing in your brain anyway." He laughed as Patrick turned and shoved him hard into the wall beside him, the two almost knocking over the potted plant that sat beside them. They laughed and picked themselves up before continuing after their friends.

"I think I liked it better when I was still able to pick you up," Patrick remarked, causing Sydney to grin again.

That's another thing that he had enjoyed so much about being in the band for so long, despite all the problems it gave him when he was young and so much in the spotlight, he always had his brothers and sisters around him to be there to share in the achievements they had, the successes and failures, and having so many other people to talk to. Still despite that he managed to become great friends with McFly and the Busted boys in their own way. Tom reminded him a lot of his eldest brother, Julius, in many ways, but it was their interested in space and science that truly did bring the two of them together, Danny was so skilled at the guitar that for a while all Sydney wanted to do was sit by and watch him play transfixed on the Bolton boy with awe and wonder, Dougie was so childlike that it didn't take long for the two of them to bond, and Harry didn't mind that the youngest member of the DarkElements following him around.

And yet, as the fifteen year old boy noticed, the happiest moments of his life, things that no other eight year old had been able to experience, had been tainted all because of a man that was greedy and didn't understand what it was to have responsibility and to truly love someone.

As the three bands continued along, they reached the end of the hallway where a conference room was held, and was waved in by Fletch, who looked at his watch as they approached. "You're late," he called.

"Sorry, Fletch, apparently these guys don't know how to give directions," Matt commented, motioning to McFly, who all smiled sheepishly. "Especially when you're just taking a turn and then they tell you to go the other way."

"I told you that I'm rubbish with directions," Dougie defended himself. "So I don't know why you stuck me with that job."

"Because had to make sure that you didn't get into anything." Harry smiled and ruffled the blonde's long hair before they went inside to find Jake and Ronan sitting on one side of the table along with the representatives of Island Records along with them. The three bands filled in their seats around the table and listened quietly as Jake took the helm of the conversation.

"So why we're here today is to, not only re-sign your contracts with Island Records, but also to get an idea of where you think this could go." Jake started to get up from his seat, but tripped over the end of the table and fell flat to the floor, his downward descent brought his arm down on the edge of a clipboard which shot across the room and rocketed into a bookshelf, bringing those down as well.

McFly and Busted started to laugh as the Jacksons immediately leapt to their feet, looking down at the man as he pushed himself back to his knees, moving his glasses back up his face. "Jake, are you okay?" Noah asked, looking over him anxiously.

"That was a hard hit to the ground, mate," Rhuben added.

Pushing himself up off the floor, Jake adjusted his glasses then wiggled his fingers. "No broken fingers, no bruises, nothing jammed." He then brought his hands up to his forehead and pressed a few spots along his hairline. "No contusions, no signs of concussion. Just a bit of rug burn." Standing up once more, he grinned, blue eye shining. "I'm okay."

"Good to hear it, at any rate we're waiting for the news that you managed to die or something," Riley said, slowly sitting back in her seat."

"Actually, I would consider that to be more good luck than bad luck, but who's counting." Sydney smiled at Jake's optimism towards his luck streak. Somehow he managed to go through cycles of good luck and bad luck almost as quickly as a flip of a coin. But he always managed to come through it with a smile.

It was infectious, really, and one of the things that had made his and his siblings' world brighter when they arrived in New York City and met him years ago. He had grown so close to the family that as soon as he found what Robert was doing to him and his siblings, he quickly moved into the position of being a father figure to the five, even speaking about adopting him if he got the chance. Sydney would always hold him in a high regard for that.

"As I was saying, this is the perfect timing to introduce something new to the music industry," Jake continued as he went to the front of the room. Reaching out, he pointed towards the board where a bar-graph image was projected. "These are the sales of McFly's last album on the left. And on the right are the sales of the DarkElements' last album."

Tom leaned forward as he studied the bar graphs in front of him. He let out a low breath and turned to Danny, Harry, and Dougie, who all winced as well, avoiding looking at the image. They weren't entirely ashamed, but there was a lot of that album they didn't like. The sales weren't as great as they had changed their sound so much.

"As you can see, McFly's ales weren't that great," Jake said with a sympathetic air to his tone. "Even Busted's lowest selling album at the time had beaten these sales by a wide margin. Even so, just mentioning on twitter that they would be here today, as I had instructed them to, Busted albums have been moving up the charts on iTunes. And as we all know, the reason for this album not being as…commercially successful was certainly because of the new direction in music they had chosen to go in."

"That can't be the _only _reason," Ronan protested helpfully. Leaning back in his seat, he straightened the tie that lay across his chest. "Even the DarkElements have changed the sound of their music over the years—"

"But they've mostly stuck in the genre of rock music that's been consistent," Jake continued. "With the heavy rock feel being the forerunner while going along with slight changes here and there. But that's the point of the sub-genre of rock music they fall in, that it mostly stays the same. The sound of pop-rock music, which McFly have certainly made a career of, is something that's a bit harder to keep up with. Especially with the new wave of boy bands coming through and indie music is starting to make its appearance. It's hard to keep up."

"That was the point of taking off Jason Perry and then going out to Atlanta, right?" James spoke up. He had been silent for most of the conversation, almost in a bit of an awkward silence, looking over at Matt every now and then. It was surreal to be there when there had been so much history between Busted and the record label from years before. He never thought he would be back. "To try and change up their sound a bit, see what would work. That's what they did with Wonderland, Motion in the Ocean, _and _Radio:Active."

"Yes, but those still held on the sounds that were distinctly McFly," Fletch agreed. "The 50s and 60 beachy sounds, those were always there. With Above the Noise, it became so far from that that many were alienated."

"And it's not like we even liked that album ourselves," Danny agreed. He brushed an imaginary strand off of his forehead before crossing his arms, pensive. "It was our worst album. We can admit that. We all hate it. It was an experiment that didn't work, though I wouldn't trade the experience for anything."

"I'm not saying that we haven't been affected by changes in sound either," Ronan said. He looked over at the Jacksons who nodded.

"Realistically and statistically speaking there's always a point in time where bands are going to hit what is commonly considered their sophomore slump," Sydney rattled off. "Not only that it has to be the sophomore album that does it, but new ventures in general as people have a tendency to be stuck in their own ways as well as to have a sort of hive mind idea. Once one person goes one way, the others follow with no reasoning's whatsoever. It was bound to happen with one of them, but it wasn't truly expected for those numbers to come out with Above the Noise rather than one of their earlier albums."

There was a brief moment of silence around the room before there was a break of relieved laughter. The tension immediately going away, causing Sydney to smile. "Just like always Syd," Matt remarked. "Have to show off your Mensa smarts and put all the rest of us to shame."

"Try living with it for fifteen years," Rhuben remarked, and then motioned to Patrick. "Making Pat look stupid is easy, but making the rest of us look stupid is hard." Patrick stuck out his tongue towards his sister before sticking his finger in his mouth and twisting it towards her ear. "Ew! Pat! Stop that!"

"So what does that mean for what we're doing now?" Riley asked, getting right to the point. Which was much of the way that the Jacksons operated. Due o the things they had gone through in life she quickly moved to the position of being the 'leader' of them with Rhuben her right-hand man and the rest of the boys falling in line accordingly. It was the same formation they moved in for their band as well and worked well as each of them got time to be heard before the ultimate decision rested on her shoulders. "Not that I'm saying we have better things to do, but we know that this lot are going on tour and we're going to be headlining it as well. That's pretty much cut and dry and shouldn't take for a meeting like this."

"I'm glad you asked, Ripcurl," Ronan stated, mentioning the girl by his nickname for her. "As this is something that has more to do with Matt and James, but with our work with both bands, can bring success to all three." Standing up, he went over to the front of the room with Jake causing Sydney to mentally note, once more, how similar the two men appeared. If it weren't for differing dress styles—where Jake preferred sporty suits while Ronan preferred a nice shirt, tie, and jeans—and differing eye colors, Jake's being blue and Ronan's being green, they would probably be confused as twins a lot more than just brothers. "As you're aware there has been nothing but non-stop questions as to whether or not Busted will ever get back together and that has increased in the last coming years. Especially whenever there would be a picture of these two together."

Dougie rolled his eyes. "So? I get that every time I walk out the front door. But I'm surprised they haven't picked up on the fact that it's not really Harry and I that's together." He gave a smarmy smile, lifting his finger. "But it's really me and Danny."

"That's right!" Danny boldly declared to the laughter of Tom and Harry. "We've managed to keep our torrid love affair a secret this long and we're going to keep it that way." Leaning forward against the table, Danny said down to Rhuben, "Sorry, love, but I get all the attention I need from Dougie."

"Please, go ahead." Rhuben held her hands up as she tried to control her laughter. "I don't want to break up something that's truly meant to be." Her lips curled up in the corner before giving him a playful smile. "But we can still be friends, Dan. No worries."

That was what Sydney especially liked about hanging out with everyone at one. They were always laughing. No matter how irritated Riley and Rhuben could get with the boys, no matter how much they rolled their eyes, shook their heads, or looked on at them in horror, they couldn't stop laughing whenever they were around.

_But, of course, that doesn't mean that they can match our energy, _Sydney added to himself with a half smile. He and his siblings—in the media and through their wide circle of friends—were always considered to have so much energy, to be loud, rambunctious, and always looking for some fun when they were bored. And as Ronan found out pretty quickly, they got bored very easily; to the point where the words chaos, noise, and mischief were synonymous with their names.

"Why don't we cut to the chase here," Tony Rickman, a representative of Island Records, spoke up. He had a no-nonsense expression on his face while his partner, John McIntyre, was more open and laughed along with those in the conference room. "We believe, right now, there is a good place in the market for Busted to get back together."

There was a brief moment of silence before James said, almost bitterly, "You'd have to ask Charlie about that one. We can't be Busted if one of us doesn't want to do it." He then turned his gaze to Fletch. "But you've already asked him. Without running it by us, first." He motioned between himself and Matt, who suddenly became very quiet, quite opposite of his loud and exuberant personality. Then again, he always was in the middle of the feud between James and Charlie that had been what was the reason for the band's breakup.

"Mate, the only reason I asked him was _because _of the clause that we had for the Busted name," Fletch said patiently. "Which I will continue to speak about once we have the rest of this sorted out." Glancing apologetically at Tony and John, he held his hands together behind his back.

But even from where Sydney was sitting, he could see that the man was doing his best to keep his anger in check in a public setting.

"As you two are already slated to do a few Busted songs while on McFly's tour, we think that it may be a good idea to bring the band back together to release more music," Tony explained. "This is the year of renewal. Old shows are being rebooted, movie franchises are being rebooted, Harry Potter is still going on, and the nostalgia factor is surely on our side for the possibility."

"So what does this have to do with us?" Noah brought his lower lip into his mouth, teeth resting near his snake bite piercings. "I understand we're supporting McFly on their tour and we're really excited to be touring again. But what does Busted have to do with us?"

"You're going to help promote it," John said. "If there's any mention of McFly and Busted on twitter you're going to retweet it or mention the people that said it and start a buzz. Similar to interviews and other social media points where it can be brought up. With the work you've done before you have a major fan base that mixes well with McFly's and Busted's and one the buzz starts going out—as I'm sure you've noticed the photographers on your way to Island this morning—the internet is already blowing up with the possibility that you're going to tour again. If we can add Busted on that, all three bands will blow up."

"That works in theory, but I think you're forgetting one thing that's been brought up twice already, yeah?" Rhuben's voice was flat, her eyes staring holes right into Tony and John as if she were waiting for them to start melting right in front of her. "Charlie. There's…some stuff going on with him around. Do you really think that it's a good idea to threaten everything with that?"

Sydney stayed silent as he watched the two men try to fumble for an answer. Not only was it that James and Matt had a falling out with Charlie Simpson, but so had Rhuben, who had been dating him at the time that Busted had broken up. Despite being so young and not being interested in girls yet, Sydney hated to see his sisters unhappy, especially in their relationships, and felt badly when he saw how it had affected her when they did break up. He didn't have anything against Charlie personally, but he still was protective over her feelings. Especially Noah, as the two were always very close, he could even see the younger of the twin boys look over at his sister with a sympathetic smile.

"Of course we want to put all of your guys' feelings in consideration," Fletch said quickly, speaking a mile a minute. "As we don't want any unhappy band members as we move this forward. But like it or not in many ways Charlie is part of the occasion. Although at the moment he doesn't want to do it, there is the possibility that he might change his mind and we have to deal with that when the time comes."

_He might change his mind and we have to deal with that when the time comes._

It was so funny how things like that, phrases like that always seemed to surround his life. At the moment, it was something he wondered about nearly at the start of every year. Robert had decided to stay out of contact with them ever since he was arrested, but what was stopping him from deciding to change his mind and wanting to talk to them again? What was stopping him from taking the light and happiness that the DarkElements had found away from them to bring the darkness back?

But more importantly, what was keeping Sydney from changing _his _mind. As much as he loved being in the band with his brothers and sisters, he couldn't help but wonder if there were things he was missing out on. Taking school classes on line, college and the like as his high school classes didn't always challenge him, made him constantly wonder what he was missing from what was to be the 'best years of his life'.

What was stopping him from changing his mind and leaving the band so he truly did know what it was like to be a normal fifteen year old teen?

* * *

**A/N: **So what do you guys think? Is the pacing okay? (I think it's starting out a bit slow but it should move faster from now on since it's not much longer until they start to go on tour). Is there anything you want to see more of as the story goes along? Let me know and I'll update again soon with a longer chapter.

Cheers,

-Riles


	8. Chapter 8

**.:Chapter Eight:.**

* * *

"Why do I get the feeling that you're up to something?" Jacqui turned away from her mirror as Gen flopped down onto her bed, resting her chin in her hands. She gently kicked her legs back and forth as she studied her dark haired friend. "Not that it's much of a stretch, eh; you're always up to something."

"I have to make life interesting, my dear," Jacqui replied in a regal sort of tone. "Any way that I can." She twisted around in her seat and flashed her pearly whites at Gen, who smiled. "And anyway, all I'm doing is trying to remember what I did with that massive bag of pixie sticks."

At that, Gen groaned and dropped her forehead onto the bedspread beneath her. "I swear, it's like crack to you or something."

"Or something," Jacqui said. She leapt up from her chair and skipped over to the closet, digging through the shoes, clothes, and Harry Potter memorabilia that lay on the floor. "Besides, it's tradition at this point and if we're—"she paused and looked over at Gen, who watched her. "I get it. You're nervous about seeing Tommy boy, aren't you?"

"No," Gen said honestly. "Nervous wouldn't be the word. But it is kind of weird don't you think? I haven't really talked to him since we broke up." She tilted her head to the side. "I mean, I know we've both been busy, but I still."

"Oh come on, you don't think that as soon as you walk through the front door and your eyes meet you won't just fall in love all over again?" Jacqui turned her attention back to her closet, pushing a pair of rollerblades aside. She then grabbed a blade and turned it upside down, where a plastic bag filled with candy spilled out. "That's where I put it!"

"Oh yeah, it's very appetizing now," Gen said sarcastically. She sat up on the bed, sitting cross-legged. "And to answer your first question, you've been watching too many Ryan Gosling movies, case in point, The Notebook."

"If you have something against Ryan Gosling you better tell me now or else, I'm sorry to say, we're not going to be friends anymore." Jacqui laughed as a pillow Gen threw hit her on the back of the head. "Anyway, we should get going to the house or we're going to be late for dinner. And by this point I'm pretty sure Riley is already threatening somebody with a large carving knife."

Now Gen laughed as she rolled off the bed and onto her feet. "Alright, let me just get my shoes and we can head over there." Nodding, Jacqui dropped the bag of candy at her feet before sliding her feet into her shoes. As she laced them, she thought about Gen's worries and realized they were mirroring her own, just a little bit.

She and Harry had stayed friends throughout their time apart, but things changed and people changed. Despite how much fun they had chatting when they had the time, she knew with some things that had happened it'd be too hard to go back to the way things were. Especially if she wasn't sure if she _wanted _things to go back to that time. As great as their relationship was on the surface, they weren't free of their share of problems. Some things she could handle, other things she couldn't, and the things she couldn't ended up getting way too big.

But people changed, and she had to admit she was excited to hang out with the boys again. There was always something going on that had them wind up in strange situations or in hysterical fits of laughter that she couldn't get anywhere else.

The girls made sure they had their keys and wallets—especially after having searched their entire apartment for Patrick's when he still had it—and headed out to the house, opting to take the train and walking the rest of the way. One they arrived at the house they could already hear a commotion coming from inside, though that wasn't much of a surprise. Anything where McFly or the DarkElements were involved and there was going to be nothing but chaos, laughter, and loud noise. This time around, it sounded as if there was massive chaos going off inside.

In fact, Jacqui was surprised that her knock could be heard over the sound, but smiled as Sydney pulled open the door to let them in. "What's going on this time?" She asked the young boy. "Either Danny got too handsy, Harry inadvertently made some sort of a sexist joke, or Dougie just being annoying."

"No, actually, we're all in a debate over which is better, Star Trek or Star Wars," Sydney said. He closed the door behind them and took their purses, carefully laying them on the stairs, before leading them to the massive kitchen, where the bands were sitting around the island, and the scent of something cooking hitting them. "Hey guys, Gen and Jaqui are here."

"Thank God, more estrogen, _please_ sit down," Rhuben remarked. She reached over and pulled out the two stools that were nearest to her. "And help us settle this debate. Which is better, Star Wars or Star Trek."

"Star Wars, of course," Tom broke in from her other side.

"I wasn't asking you, Tommy, you've already had our chance to speak." She placed her hand on his face and pushed him away from her as the other band members laughed.

"That depends," Jacqui said as she sat down on the stool at the end of the island, in between Dougie and Matt. "Are we talking Chris Pine Star Trek or William Shatner Star Trek? Because both of them have their merits but the Chris Pine version is much better."

"Are you kidding?" James practically spat. "Not only do I disagree with you because of the fact that Star Wars is infinitely better, but William Shatner as Captain Kirk is a classic." He pounded his fist on the island. "Other than that, you can't say that space ships can beat the force and light sabers."

"Uh, hello," Patrick broke in, raising an eyebrow. "I think you're forgetting that Spock is one of the most iconic characters in pop culture of all time! Not even that, but the technology that they have is amazing."

"Am I the only one that seems to remember that all of this isn't real?" Riley asked, throwing her hands into the air. "And that it doesn't matter because it's not like it's actually anything that even matters." She paused. "But for the record, I'd go with Star Wars."

"Then you're just as crazy as I already thought you were," Matt said, receiving the middle finger in response. He laughed and turned to Gen and Jacqui. "It's good to see you girls again. It's been a while, what have you been up to?"

"A lot of school work," Gen replied with a light shrug from where she was positioned next to Tom and Riley. "I'm currently studying to become a lawyer. I have to do something to make sure that I can keep these guys out of jail," she added, motioning to the Jacksons.

"Are we supposed to be offended by that?" Noah asked innocently and smiled. "But law school, that's really cool. Must be pretty tough though."

"Yeah, are you going to Oxford?" Tom asked her. He sounded a little shy, almost as if he was just meeting her for the first time. Nevertheless, the smile she gave him showed there were no hard feelings. Not that anyone else could see firsthand. "Living in London it could take some time to get there, but it has a great law program."

"UEL, it had more of what I was looking for as a whole, but it was a great coincidence that Jacqui was coming out here for her study abroad program," Gen explained. "Of course we had to be sure to stay together one we found out we both were going there. We have an apartment about twenty minutes away from here."

"So you're going to be around a lot?" Harry asked, sitting up straight. "That's great, like Rhu said we could use some more females around here." Riley and Rhuben both turned and set him with a death glare, causing him to sink on his stool, trying to hide his face behind his cell phone. "Not that you two aren't enough."

"Nice save," Sydney said sarcastically. He went over to Jacqui and set her with an innocent look. "So? Did you bring the stuff this time? C'mon, I know you have it." He made a show of looking in her jacket pocket, causing Jacqui to laugh and push herself away.

"You see what you did?" James pointed to the two of them. "Now you have him hooked. It's only a matter of time until he gets into the harder stuff."

"It's Pixie Stix, not heroin," Danny said with a light roll of his eyes. He paused for a moment before leaning towards her, holding out his hand. "Can I have some? I know you have it. You always do. Plus, it makes everything funnier."

"You mean apart from looking at your face?" Dougie shot back.

"Yes."

Tom slapped his hand against his forehead, shaking his head back and forth. Jacqui laughed lightly as she got to her feet and motioned over her shoulder. "Yeah, I have it in my purse; I'll be back in a minute." She made a show of rubbing her hands together maliciously. "Now I know what true power feels like. Dance my little puppets, dance!" Turning on her heel, she left the kitchen at a light skip and went over to her purse as it sat on the bottom step of the stairs. Sitting down, she pulled out the bag and started o sort through the candy.

"I knew you had a lot of stuff, but even I think this is ridiculous," Harry commented as he followed her around the corner. He sat down on the step next to her, peering into the bag. "Do you clean out the entire candy aisle when you go to the store?"

Jacqui laughed, as she dug through the bag. "No, this is just stuff I have left over. The stash I have at home is much bigger. Though Danny seems to have caught onto my plan," she added. As Harry lifted his eyebrows, she gave an evil smile. "I laced all of this candy with drugs so that I can have you guys worship me."

"So you're a low-key drug dealer."

"A sugar dealer, but yes, it's on my business card." Jacqui's smile faded as she sorted pixie sticks out of the bag and onto the step beside her. "It's better than getting into alcohol if you ask me." Harry nodded, turning away from her. He got what she was trying to say, he heard it loud and clear. "Besides, nothing's funnier than watching people when they're on a massive sugar high."

"Like the time that Dougie went running up and down the hotel hallway screaming at the top of his lungs that he was a ballerina?" Harry asked. "I remember that. Though I think he wanted to do that and there wasn't any sugar involved."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Jacqui agreed. "Dougie just loves life. That's why he's one of my best pals. There's never a dull moment when he's around." She nodded towards the kitchen. "Speaking of which, not that I'm not happy to see them, but what are James and Matt doing here?"

"Oh, they're going to be going with us on tour," Harry explained. He leaned back on the step behind him, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankle. "It's our anniversary tour and we're going around the UK and Europe and stopping for a few days one it's our anniversary to do a couple of shows. Fletch invited them along with us so they could play some of their songs during intermission."

The dark haired girl's eyes widened as she sat up and grabbed onto Harry's arm, squeezing it tightly. "Are you telling me that my dream has come true and that Busted are becoming a band again?"

Harry chuckled good naturedly. "Maybe," he replied. "No one knows about Charlie. Fletch has talked to him, Matt, and James and so far, it doesn't seem like we're getting any news on that front anytime soon." He cleared his throat. "Frank, I don't blame them. They haven't bloody spoken to each other in years."

"Hmm, that just means that I have work to do." Leaning forward, Jacqui rubbed her chin, a plan already forming in her head. "I might have it cut out for myself this time around. But that doesn't mean that I can't get it done."

"You're going to try and single-handedly get Busted back together? But if you can do that, then you deserve some sort of an award."

"Who said anything about getting Busted back together?" Jacqui gave him an odd look before lightly shaking her head. "No, I'm talking about Rhu and Charlie. Or Rhu and Danny, whichever one she wants to get back with. Though at this point I'd think Danny, I'd kill to be able to see him get out of the shower every morning."

"I think you have a better chance of getting James and Riley back together and those two don't even talk to each other unless they have to," Harry remarked. He ran a hand through his hair before bobbing his foot up and down as if it were on a bass drum pedal. "Though it does bring up some very entertaining arguments."

"I swear to God, Dougie, if you ask me again if dinner is almost ready, I'll beat you like a piñata."

"Kind of like that one," Harry added, tilting his head in the direction of the kitchen at Riley's outburst. "Though at this point I truly think he's doing that on purpose. Though here's a piece of advice, don't ever go into Rhu's room without getting her permission first. I think that's about ten times scarier than Riley's yelling."

"I'm assuming you were on the receiving end of that?"

"This morning, and I'm sure that I'm probably going to wake up buried alive tomorrow." Harry joked.

Jacqui laughed. She watched as Harry pushed himself up from the stairs, the movement causing the bottom of his shirt to rise, giving her a good view of his stomach muscles. Tilting her head to the side, she took a long look at his stomach before turning her head away.

_Of course he had to get better looking while I was gone, _Jacqui thought. Who was she kidding? She followed their career just as much as she did for One Direction or the Wanted and was proud of all of the things he and the rest of McFly had managed to accomplish in their career as a band. Some of her favorite memories were long nights on the tours they and the DarkElements had gone on, working as an assistant to both bands when it was needed.

They all had some of the best nights, staying up late, writing songs, and getting ready for the show the next day. And then the McFly boys had gone on and did the rockstar thing that she couldn't ever imagine doing, which had caused some strains towards the end of the tour. That had been the last time all of them had really been together, until the boys were in Australia working on Radio:Active. Even then, she and Gen weren't out there for long and one the boys finished recording that album; they went back to the UK to tour it. It truly was the first time all of them had been together since the great amount of time spent during their tours in the US.

And yet, she couldn't help but wonder if that meant that anything had really changed with Harry in general. Or if it was only the outside that had. Part of her wanted to find out, but there was another part of her that was worried she had her expectations up too high.

"If not having a pair of drumsticks shoved down our throat sideways," Jacqui agreed, standing up. "I seem to remember that being one of the things she threatened you with last time. Other than her intense silent treatment and cold air that goes around. I think that's even worse." She shifted the bag of candy in her hands, coming down the stairs and moving around him. "I'm going to bring this in there."

"Sure."

Jacqui went back into the kitchen and dropped the bag of candy into the middle of the island, sitting back in her stool once more. She then addressed James and Matt, "you boys haven't been around us long enough to know, but things are about to get a little wild."

* * *

"No, aren't you done jumping up and down on the couch yet?" Gen asked as she followed the Australian drummer's movement. He shook his head as he continued to jump hair flying out of his face as he did so. "Really? You're not tired yet?"

"Dude, I still have so much of this left, I'm not going to be tired for _hours_!" Noah held up a handful of pixie sticks as he continued to do so. Sydney, who was bouncing next to him nodded in agreement. "Hey, we should play another game of hide and seek."

"Sure, if you want to spend another hour trying to get Dougie unwedged from the freezer in the basement," Tom said. He pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his legs, a notebook on his lap. "I think I'm going to pass on it this time." Lifting his knees, he brought his hand across the paper that sat in front of him. "Anyway, I think we need to focus more on the tour. We don't have anything decided yet and Fletch, Jake, and Ronan are going to need some ideas soon or it's not going to get off the ground."

"What are you trying to decide?" Rhuben leaned into his side, looking over the paper in his hand. "Stage designs, that's cool! Though you're going to need to give more space on the back for Noah's and my drum sets."

"You both play the drums when you perform now?" Danny asked. He sat on the couch behind her, gently batting her ponytail back and forth between his hands much like a cat would. "I bet that's a sight to see."

"Yeah, we changed a lot of our stuff around so now Rhu and No both play the drums live and Syd moved from the piano to the guitar so we have those three at the front and then the two drums at the back," Patrick explained. He let out a cry of surprise, curling up into a ball on the floor as Noah launched himself off of the couch and onto Patrick. "Ugh, why can't being on a sugar high make you as quiet as you usually are?" Nevertheless, he twisted around and grabbed Noah by the waist, pinning him to the floor. He opened his mouth wide and stuck out his tongue, where a line of drool slid from his tongue towards Noah's face.

"Stop it!" Reaching out, Noah pressed his hand against the side of Patrick's face and pushed as hard as he could, trying not knock his twin brother away from him.

Jacqui laughed as she watched the two. It was so strange to see how much the Jacksons had changed and yet stayed the same since they had gotten rid of Robert six years before. There were lasting effects that she could clearly see, but they were so open now it was like she was looking at different people.

Matt stepped over the fighting twins before dropping down on the couch. "Tom has a point though, we really need to start thinking about the tour. And what we want to do to bring publicity to it. If Fletch and Jake really want this Busted thing to take off, we need to be sure there's interest in it."

"There _is _interest," Gen insisted. She leaned out of the way as Sydney dive-bombed off the couch and leapt onto his brothers, joining in on the fight. "It's all over Twitter. All anyone wants is for you guys to do one more show. The fact it'll be a McFly show will blow it through the roof."

"Yes, but you're forgetting that we can't talk about it until it happens," Harry pointed out. He repeatedly spun a drum stick around his finger as Riley sat at his side, with another drumstick in her hand, trying to do the same. She frowned as she dropped it after a few seconds, bringing a hand up to her forehead to hide her pout when Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "So what are we going to do until then?"

_Always so competitive, _Jacqui thought with a half smile. "You could always do a couple videos together or something?" Jacqui suggested, gently spinning herself back and forth in her chair. She then slowed down and stretched out her legs, placing her feet on Dougie's back as he lounged on the floor, doodling what looked like penises in his own notebook. "Tom's always vlogging as it is, right? And it can't be long until news breaks out that you all moved into a house again."

"That'd still ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" Dougie asked, He tilted his head to the side, his long hair falling out his face. He stuck out his tongue as he leaned forward, giving careful attention to his anatomically correct doodle. "Like, if you came too early."

"Dougie!" Tom scolded.

"I meant at a surprise party, Tom, get your mind out of the gutter." Dougie flashed an inappropriate smile and kicked his feet like a giddy school girl, causing the room to burst out into laughter again. He rested his chin in his hand and started to hum to himself, lost in the world of his doodles. As much as she loved to have him around, sometimes she was afraid of what really went on in his head.

"Why don't we record something?" James suggested, lightly strumming on the guitar. "Just for fun. Then we can release it and say it was something we did a while ago, just to bring in interest. It's not like we're actually telling them that we're working together now."

"Okay, but what song would you want to do?" Matt drummed his fingers against his chest. He let out a cry of pain as Sydney wiggled his way out from underneath his wrestling brothers and repeatedly slapped Matt on the thigh. "Ow! Syd, I get the bloody point! You have my attention! What is it?"

"Why don't we record 'Love is on the Radio?'" He asked, speaking at a mile a minute. "Judging by the views the song and video got on YouTube it's one of McFly's more popular songs, even surpassing that of Love is Easy, which was a hit as well. I mean, when does McFly not produce hits, yeah? So why not jump on the bandwagon? It's statistically proven that once you follow a trend as quickly as you can, you have a higher chance of being noticed rather than the others that copycat an covers of the song are already being done. The algorithms on YouTube will also—"

"Okay! Okay! We get the point, Little Man!" Riley reached out and grabbed onto her brother, pulling him onto her lap, placing her hands over his mouth. "Why don't you take a few minutes to yourself and calm down?" Sydney hummed and picked up the drumstick that Riley had dropped and repeatedly poked her in the cheek. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you dimples," he said and gave a light laugh.

"I already have a dimple."

"Really?" Dougie perked up. "Where? Is it in a naughty place I can't see?"

Riley reached out her foot and kicked him in the side.

"That's a good idea," Rhuben agreed. "We were just saying the other day that it's one of our favorites of your guys' new songs." She sat up and started to pat her hands on the ground, a look of concentration sliding over her place. "If we speed it up a bit, it'll sound like a DE song for sure. Maybe throw in a few more hits on the hihat, add a more rock feel to it."

Rubbing his chin, Tom thought for a moment. "If we do the same thing with Matt and James, releasing it as a Busted version, with the DarkElement version on a B-Side, that could really bring in more interest to our tour." He looked over at Danny, who listened quietly to the suggestion that moved around him. "Then Dan and I could come up with some preliminary ideas for the tour, something that I'm sure Fletch will immediately jump upon because we're giving him something. Maybe it'd give us inspiration for some more songs as well, if we're going to have another album after that."

"Sounds like a right plan to me, mate," Danny agreed.

"Then it's settled!" Jacqui clasped her hands together. "I'm glad I thought of it."

"Jac-Jac, you didn't do anything," Gen pointed out calmly.

"Hey, I brought the pixie sticks over here and that set this whole night in motion." Leaning back in her chair, Jacqui rested her hands on her stomach, giving a warm smile. "I expect to have a thank you in each and every one of your album's thank you notes."

She smiled.

* * *

**A/N: **I so needed this chapter as it's one of my favorite inside jokes to make, and it was gonna pop up at some point, so you all should've expected it. (I think I've done it at least one per each of my McFly stories I've ever written). Any who, I got some inspiration after watching McBusted MEAT Tour videos, so I hope you guys liked the chapter.

More romance is coming up with the next chapter so you'll see some of the other pairings that are evident in the story as well. And Jake, Fletch, and Ronan are getting bigger parts as well; it's been a while since I've written a McFly story so I'm getting the hang of it again.

Review Reply

_Ethan_: You'll find out about Danny's Dad and the other problems the McFly boys are dealing with soon, as well as the Busted feud with James and Charlie. I want to set some things up first rather than give it all away at the very beginning. That being said there are also the plots that the rest of DE need to go through that are to be mixed in as well.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	9. Chapter 9

**.:Chapter Nine:.**

* * *

"Have you gotten through to any of them yet?" Jake asked, leaning back in his seat as he brought his mug of coffee to his lips. Fletch reached out and snatched the mug from his hands seconds before he launched himself backwards in what would have sent scalding beverage all over him.

The American manager gave Fletch a grateful smile, causing Ronan to laugh lightly, before settling all four legs of his chair onto the ground then took it back. "There's only so much that you can do to figure out how to get Charlie, Matt, and James to see eye to eye." He paused for a moment. "Actually, I think you have a better chance of Charlie and Matt talking then Charlie and James."

"Yes, well, even if I have to force them to do it, they're going to talk to each other at some point or another," Fletch said firmly. He tapped his finger tips against the sides of his drink, creating a light clinking sound with each hit. "They'd be giving up a really good thing if they don't go along with it, I just hope I can get them to see that. Besides, James is all for being in a band; it's why he was so quick to jump onto Son of Dork and his own personal project, Future Boy. I don't think that supporting McFly and the DarkElements is what they ultimately want to do. I've suggested that they get back together as Busted and the only way that's going to happen is if they bring Charlie in."

Ronan lifted a finger, using it to scratched his eyebrow as he tried to hide his smug smile. "So you're telling me that you concocted a plan that you're not even sure is going to work, all because you're tired of James having failing bands?"

Rolling his eyes, Fletch turned towards the DarkElements' manager and gave him a pointed stare. "I _mean _that I'm tired of them moping around because they're not doing what they want to do because they won't talk to each other. It doesn't matter how I do it, just as long as I get them talking to each other. I mean, those guys and the McFly boys are like my family. And for a selfish reason, I'm tired of being constantly bombarded with questions about whether or not Busted will get back together."

"Oh no, that's not selfish at all," Jake said sarcastically. He and Ronan looked at each other and laughed lightly. "No, I get what you mean. With all of the success that McFly managed to have back in New York, I've got Mr. Phillips on my back to bring in another hit for them. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the best place to try and break them in, compared to other countries."

"My kids have had the same problem," Ronan empathized. "They've had a lot of success in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe, all of those places that are, basically, a staple of getting music done on that side of the world. But when it comes to the US, they had the success I thought they would have, receiving Gold on their albums. What I hadn't anticipated, however, is that the music that they put out, which had influences from Stained, The Used, Incubus, all of those sorts of rock bands, wasn't what was playing well on the radio stations. I thought they could bring it back, but it didn't work as well, not to mention their personal problems at the time."

The three men nodded as they fell silent. As much as McFly and the DarkElements had become best friends throughout their work together, there were still many moments that the Australian band didn't talk to their friends about, which had moments of putting them at odds with each other. Each of the men had run-ins with the man that had caused them so much pain and suffering over the years. Ronan worked with Robert Jackson very closely as the man had been his client's manager and Jake worked with him once McFly and the DarkElements had started their collaborations with the two seeing how Robert could be on a bad day. Fletch, on the other hand, had managed to avoid a run in with him as his repertoire and career were all stationed in the UK.

Nevertheless, there were near constant ramifications of the years they had spent with Robert around and every now and then it continued to rear its head.

"It's not like it was something any of us could have seen coming," Fletch pointed out.

"You're right but there are still many things that I wonder that we could have done differently to make sure the bands were amazing success out there," Jake said. He pushed his glasses up his nose, bright blue eyes continuing to hold the sense of eagerness and earnest that continued to exude in his life. "Maybe if I had gotten to them sooner, if Mr. Phillips had worked harder to ensure that they got every opportunity they could, maybe if they had more appearance with their fans, I don't know." He shrugged. "As it was, they didn't have a lot of time to spend in the US. Before I got them to do that one show at the Hard Rock, they were only a few weeks away from going back to the UK."

"The music industry is very fickle, Jake, there's nothing that you should blame yourself for," Fletch pointed out. He reached up and scratched his forehead. "Besides, the only reason they were about to come back was because I was going to pull them away. But I had faith in you and your work and knew something was going to happen."

Snorting lightly, Ronan leaned back in his seat, perfectly balancing himself on the back legs of the chair. "I bet that really clears your conscience. The whole thing could've gone to hell in a hand basket in a second."

"And I'm bloody aware of that, thank you."

The three men chuckled to themselves as the bell above the door to the coffee shop rang. As the door closed behind him, Robert Jackson looked round the coffee shop. His eyes landed on the three men who stared at him, and cleared his throat before weaving around the tables, heading their way. Ronan passed his mug back and forth between his hands s the man continued towards the table. Finally, Robert stopped at their side, his hands in the pockets of his slacks, gray eyes darting around the three men.

Finally, he spoke in a calm, cool voice. "It's nice to see you three again," he remarked. "Though I'm sure that the feeling isn't mutual."

"What are you doing here?" Jake asked.

"I invited him," Ronan admitted.

* * *

There was nothing but darkness. Dark enough that despite the glasses that rested upon Tom's face he still had to grope his way through the halls to get back to his room. By then he figured he would've been used to the layout of the house the entire floor was his band's while the one below was the DarkElements' floor and the one above was for Busted. And yet, he was still very much like a little kid where every step that took him further and further within the darkness made his stomach clench.

Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, the hair stood on the back of his neck and anxiety rolled through his body like waves of nausea. He was sure something was watching him but as the seconds passed, as he continued to move by each room, he didn't see anything. Nothing other than the darkness of the shadows created by the dim lighting of the streetlamps. Still, a chill went down his spine every now and then, every time he passed by a window. Maybe there was something out there, watching his every move, something he couldn't see. Something he only could sense.

He just made it to his room, placing his hand on the doorknob when he felt a jolt move through his body. It wasn't the sort of jolt that accompanied a static shock, nor was it the kind that happened when one was careless enough to put their fingers too close to the end of a plug when pulling it out of the wall. No, this was the kind of jolt that reached through his entire body, gripping each and every one of his nerves and alerting him to the impending danger coming his way. And yet, he couldn't help but open the door to his room and step inside, coming face to face with the monster that had hauntedhim for as long as he could remember.

The alien in the window.

Tom's mouth dropped open a few inches as he walked into his room, staring hard at the alien that stared hard back at him. He continued to move closer and closer to the window, stretching out his hand. His fingertips gently swiped down the face of the window pane seconds before he felt something hit his back and he crashed face fist into the glass.

With a start, Tom woke up in his bed. The first thing he was aware of was the pain that throbbed on the bridge of his nose, the second that was his room was undeniably bright. And for someone that preferred to have his room be as dark as possible, it nearly blinded him, more than his already bad eyesight. Breathing heavily, Tom brought his hands up and ran them over his face, wincing when he touched the spot that continued to sting, enough so that he quickly brought his hands back down from his face. Reaching over, he took his glasses off his nightstand and slid them onto his face before leaping out f bed and hurrying over to the full length mirror.

Everything was as it should have been his blonde hair that had turned to a medium brown, his brown eyes with flecks of gold, everything was the same. Everything that had been a dream stayed a dream, other than the red spot that sat on the bridge of his nose.

"What the…" Tom reached up and gently pressed the spot, allowing himself to wince again. "Great idea Tom, see if it still hurts." He rolled his eyes before leaning into the mirror to examine the spot even closer. There was nothing there other than the red bump, but he hadn't remembered anything that would allow him to have gotten it. Other than his dream. _I can't be going crazy, _he thought. _It was just a dream, there was nothing real about it._

Though he wasn't quite sure of that. Sensible Tom, the leader of McFly and the one that always had his head on straight, didn't know if he was or was not cracking up. _Must be all of the late nights, that's the only thing that makes sense. _That was true. Since coming up with the idea for James and Matt to do a version of Love is on the Radio and the DarkElements to do another, there had been nothing but long nights of talking, laughing, music playing, and just general excitement for the tour. Booze filled nights that had the McFly and James falling all over themselves with hysterical laughter while Matt and the Jacksons laughed at them. The only other thing that made sense to him was the potentiality of nerves that was getting to him.

He was always nervous.

His music made him nervous and not in the way that many people would expect. He didn't always like all of the songs they created, he didn't always like the directions their band went in, especially as there were other voices that got in their heads or overpowered him and his band mates. He didn't even like releasing music; really, it was just a bit cluster fuck of emotions while they waited to hear what fans and critics had to say. Rather, he preferred to be onstage, performing the songs he loved to a crowd of people that loved them just as much and had nothing but love to give.

Bringing up a hand, Tom reached for the pot once more, receiving another wince, and then turned towards his window. Even from where he was standing, it was at the perfect angle to see the imprint of his face on the window, directly where his nose had connected with the window.

_How is that possible? It was just a dream…_He lightly touched the imprint before reaching out and grabbing onto the curtains, drawing them closed over the window just as there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" He turned around as the door opened and Danny poked his head inside. "I'm sorry, aren't I the one that's usually waking you up?" He looked at his watch. "And within the next four hours. Last I checked you like to sleep in until noon."

"And that was before we ran out of food." Danny tilted his head to the side, his blue eyes shifting down for a second before he burst out laughing. "I knew you had an obsession with Disney, mate, but I think having Mickey Mouse boxers is a bit of a stretch. Unless you want people to look at you weirdly."

Tom lifted his hand and gave Danny the finger before grabbing his discarded jeans from the floor and jumping into them. He yawned loudly, rubbing at his eye as he went to his drawers to look for a shirt to wear. As he went, his eye caught sight of one of his acoustic guitars and he smiled a little. Knowing they were that close to tour was the only thing that managed to keep his spirits up. Even when things continued to haunt him.

As Tom finished getting dressed, he heard the sound of footsteps coming his way and looked over towards the doorway just as Harry and Dougie came from opposite ends of the hallway. Tom, Danny, and Dougie all stared t Harry in disbelief as he lifted his towel from around his neck and dabbed at his forehead. "What?"

"Mate, do you ever give it a rest? You're constantly working out and doing push-ups…" Danny shook his he looked the drummer up and down. "You're making the rest of us look bad."

"Hate to break it to you, Dan, but you make yourselves look bad." Harry laughed and turned back towards Tom, raising an eyebrow. "Mickey Mouse? Really?"

"If everyone is done dealing with my choice of boxers!" Tom declared loudly, lifting the waistband of his jeans so that the print on his boxers weren't visible. He turned back to Danny, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sure that I'm going to regret asking you this, but why do we need to go grocery shopping already? We had enough food to last us for another week at least."

"We did until someone left the refrigerator door open all night," Dougie piped up. "Which sucks because now all the beer's gone flat." Now he turned to Tom, studying his face. "Hey Rudolph, what happened to your nose? Did you get in a fight with a bee or something?" Before Tom could stop him, the blond walked over and jammed the pad of his finger against the bridge of his nose, causing Tom to let out a loud curse and back away, holding his nose.

"I don't know what I did. I must have hit myself in my sleep or something."

"A hell of a dream then, huh?" Danny's inappropriate grin caused Tom to scowl, instantly making his mood plummet. The leader of McFly glared at Danny and he quickly held his hands up, backing out of the room. "Yeah, so, we're going to have breakfast with the last bit of food that we have and then we're all going to go to the store. We're leaving soon so I was appointed to wake you up."

"Or you were just getting on everyone's nerves," Tom commented. He grabbed his wallet and cell phone from his bedside table and then his shoes before leaving the room, pushing by his now silent band mates. Traversing his way towards the kitchen, he found the rest of his housemates already sitting around the kitchen table, finishing up their breakfast. "What is this about the refrigerator door being left open?"

"Just as you said, mate," Patrick replied. He nodded over towards the stainless steel refrigerator as Tom sat down at his place at the table. "Someone left the door open all night and most of the food spoiled. I had to drink all of the ice cream before it really went bad." He turned to his eggs and let out low groan, pushing his plate away before resting his head on the space in front of him.

"I told you to just melt them," Riley commented to her brothers, playing with the ring that sat on the pinkie finger of her right hand, an amused smirk on her face.

"Where's the fun in that?" Noah asked, giving her a strange look. "If you thought of it first, then you would've been the first one with her head in the tub."

"True."

"And I can see that you had a real fun time doing the best you could to save everyone in the house from rotten food," James said. He looked over at Noah and Sydney, who appeared as glum as the elder of the Jackson boys did. "And I'm assuming they helped you. Why wasn't I invited to this binge fest?"

"Probably because you were so hungover from last night," Rhuben pointed out. With a smile, she rested her chin in her hand, gazing at the Busted guitarist. Her eyebrows ticked upwards as a playful light entered her eyes. "Or are you purposefully trying to forget how you sang show tunes off-key all night long."

"Was that what it was?" Matt wiggled a finger in his ear. "I thought that was a cat being run over." Tom joined in on the laughter as Danny and Dougie joined the table, taking their plates of food. Tom looked down at his plate and frowned at the bacon and eggs. He glanced at Riley, who shrugged apologetically, then picked up his fork, starting to poke at it, suddenly realizing he wasn't very hungry.

His mind was stuck on the dream that had haunted him and continued to haunt him for a long time. Maybe it was the house. He hadn't had any of the dreams until he went into new places? When he was back in his own place, when he wasn't working on the band, he slept like a baby more often than not. Or maybe it was something else? Some things that he didn't allow himself to deal with that were manifesting into his life as nightmares he couldn't control. That's the advice his mother and sister had given him when he brought it up the first time.

Then again, Carrie used it as a way to butt into his personal life as she always did, while his mother actually did give some sage advice. The only part of his life that he didn't really want to get into had fallen back into his lap once they had all moved in together. He had thoughts things were okay, that they had ended on good terms. But one look at Gen when she came over and everything had come flooding back, making him apprehensive of just about everything. Second guessing himself, wondering if he was embarrassing himself in some way.

He still had feelings for her.

"Aren't you going to eat, Tom?" Dougie asked. Broken out of his thoughts, Tom could tell that the question was meant to be of concern, but noticing the bassist's fingers slowly moving towards his plate made him smile a little. Reaching out, Tom grasped the side of his plate and handed it over to Dougie, who made a sound of delight.

"I'm not hungry," he said.

* * *

**A/N: **Geez, sorry the pacing of the story is still quite slow. I'll try to speed it up.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	10. Chapter 10

**.:Chapter Ten:.**

* * *

"Harry, we have to leave!" Matt shouted up the stairs, voice echoing around the foyer. "What's taking you so long?"

"Didn't you know?" Dougie remarked, sitting on the middle-step, concentrating as he braided Rhuben's hair as she sat in front of him. "Harry has to put on his face every morning. It takes twenty minutes alone for him to do his eyelashes." He laughed along with the other band members that lounged around the foyer. "Why do you think he cares about his appearance so much?"

"Because he's vain," Patrick commented.

"Ha!" Rhuben laughed loudly. "It takes one to know one. It takes you hours just to get your hair done up in spikes the 'perfect way'." She used air quote around the words before rolling her eyes. "Especially considering we use about a jar of hair gel on your head every day."

"That's different!"

"How?" James snorted loudly.

"It's just hair! I'm not the one that has to oil up his chest and put on five different moisturizers on my face and lotion my arms and legs and…" the young Australian man waved his hands before motioning over to Dougie. "I figured I'm good until my hair starts to get too long and I look like a hobo. No offense mate."

"Nice save," Noah said sarcastically, whacking his brother on the back of the head.

"Just give him five more minutes," Tom said calmly, leaning against the banister. "You'd know if we were really late because Tommy would be shooting us with stun guns to get us out of the house."

"Wouldn't stun guns be a bit counterproductive?" Sydney asked, his nose wrinkling.

Riley let out a sigh, lightly shaking her head. "It must be hard to be so smart," she remarked, causing Sydney to smile. She looked up at the house phone started to ring and moved towards it, but Rhuben held up her hand, getting to her feet.

"I'll get it; I need to get some water anyway." Pressing her arms against Dougie's legs, she pulled herself to her feet then reached behind her to feel the braid that Dougie had weaved into her hair. She let out a sound of surprise, feeling the two strands that that usually framed the side of her face and came together in one braid down the back of her head. "Wow, you did a great job, Dougie." She eyed his shoulder length hair. "I'm guessing you're getting a lot of practice with it."She reached out and grabbed onto Dougie's chin, gently shaking it. "You and Harry make a really cute couple."

Dougie returned the comment by batting his eye lashes and speaking in a falsetto, "Thank you, darling."

Laughing, Rhuben turned on her heel and hurried into the kitchen to grab a water bottle before moving over to the ringing phone. "Hello?" She said into the phone, holding it against her ear. She frowned, not recognizing the male voice that spoke on the other end. "I'm sorry; may I ask who is calling?"

Rather than getting a direct answer, the man instead responded by asking, "Is Danny there?"

"Hold on, please." Placing the phone against her shoulder, Rhuben walked back to the foyer and called Danny's name to get his attention as he, James, Matt, and Sydney seemed to be in an apparently heated discussion.

"I'm just saying that if any of them were to get into a fight, the Bananas in Pajamas could beat Winnie the Pooh in a second," James said, holding his hands up.

"And_ I'm_ saying that you're crazy, because we all know Winnie the Pooh would never get into a fight in the first place," Sydney shot back. "Not only would he be too top-heavy because of all of the honey he consumes on a daily basis, but he'd probably _eat _the bananas rather than fight them, yeah?"

"And I'm wondering how I managed to be the only sane one in this family," Noah commented, resting his chin in his hands. The expression on his face made Rhuben laugh a little, recognizing it as he was actually questioning his life choices. Reaching over, Rhuben ruffled his hair before turning to McFly's lead guitarist.

"Danny?" She called.

He quickly snapped to attention, pushing away from the banister. "Yes, love?"

The young Australian women motioned to the phone that continued to rest against her shoulder. "Someone's on the phone for you. Didn't leave a name, but he asked for you directly."

"He?" At her nod, Danny's blue eyes widened for a moment. "Hang up." Without hesitation, Rhuben pulled the phone from her shoulder and quickly jammed her thumb into the 'end' button before gently tossing the phone onto the stairs beside Dougie. "It's…it's not anything important, just some random guy. I think it's a fan that somehow managed to get our number."

Rhuben's eyes narrowed as Danny waved off the phone call. Despite the smile on his face, which was what could be considered his own permanent accessory, he could tell from the tightness of it at the corners that he was doing his best not to show his irritation. And as Danny Jones was someone who had never seemed to get mad over anything, even if things weren't going his way, it was a bit eerie.

"So block it," Riley suggested, as if it were obvious. "Or tell Fletch or Jake or Tommy. I'm sure one of them would be able to get whomever it is to stop calling." She then let out a huff and looked at her watch before turning towards the landing. "HARRY JUDD IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE I'M GOING TO COME UP THERE AND GET YOU MYSELF!" Not getting a response, she turned and started to go up the stairs, but Noah reached out and grabbed the back of her jeans by the belt and held her still, causing her to crash onto her stomach.

Rhuben grimaced then leaned over towards the stairs as well. "I'd hurry up if I were you!" She added. "She doesn't make threats like this lightly!" She stuck her pinkie finger in her ear and started to wiggle it around. "And I'm sure that my ear drums can't take any more of her yelling." She leaned out of the way as Riley reached out to slap her on the thigh.

"I'm right here, calm down," Harry said, hurrying down the stairs. He pulled at the collar of his shirt and ran his palms over the sides of his hair. "Just had to make sure that I was in top shape today. It takes skill to drum and look good doing it." He held out his fist and Noah reached out, bumping it with his own, laughing lightly. "Noah knows what I'm talking about."

Matt made a face, reminiscent of his infamous Busted gurn. "We're going to the studio, not a photo shoot. I don't think it needs to take more than an hour to get ready just to record some music, which shouldn't take more than two hours tops." He then smiled and adjusted his shirt collar. "Not when you're as good as we are."

"Right," Tom snorted. "Because you're not the ones that managed to single handedly halt production on an album all because you couldn't get over a hangover that had you blacking out for hours on end." Matt shrugged in agreement and Tom smiled, pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking at the time. "We're going to miss our studio time if we don't get going now."

"No problem. Let's go."

The three bands left the house and went to the cars that were waiting for them outside and drove to the recording studio that was in the city. Due to a light rain that had fallen that morning, there was a significant amount of traffic that had them at the studio about a half hour later than needed, thus putting their studio time in jeopardy.

"God, now we're going to have to hear our managers give us a lecture on punctuality and blah blah blah," Patrick grumbled, lifting his jacket over his heat to protect his hair as the group hurried across the parking lot to the studio. "The last thing I need is to get Fletched when I've managed to avoid it for so long."

"Hear hear!" James agreed, punching the air.

Once they were inside and put aside their jackets and umbrellas, they started towards their recording space, wandering down the winding hallways as they were directed by the secretary at the front desk. Rhuben slipped her ear buds into her ears and scrolled through her phone to find the McFly song they were going to play, and then pulled a pair of drumsticks out of her back pocket, spinning them around her fingers as they listened to the song. She actually loved the song, finding it to be one of the more enjoyable ones that McFly had done, after their—lack of a better word—disaster that was _Above the Noise_, but still, it was too slow for the DarkElements to do. Not that she didn't love the whole summer, feel good vibe that came along with it, but she was in a rock band for a reason.

_Well, _she thought. _That's not entirely true. _Apart from having been, basically, forced into the band with her siblings after Robert had gotten a hold of them, but their music genres had changed a bit over their entire careers that they couldn't pinpoint one genre of music they truly were. If asked, they would just say they loved rock music and wanted to reflect that in their music. Which was true, if they categorized rock music as the main genre they were and most of their music falling under all of the sub-genres underneath it. Not only did they move through pop-rock to punk-rock to alternative, to hard, to nu metal, to rap rock to everything under the sun, but their tastes in what they enjoyed to perform always changed. _The only difference being this time around we actually have a say in the matter, which makes things a little bit more enjoyable._

She continued to follow her friends, strolling through the hallway, listening intently to the music, making a mental imprint of how the drum beats worked throughout the song. She was so invested b the music that she hadn't noticed Danny calling her name until he moved behind her, grabbed her ass, then quickly moved in front of her as she ripped her ear buds out of her ears and swung them around her neck.

"I swear to God, if you don't stop doing that, I'm going to shove this bloody drumstick up your nose so hard that you'll cough up splinters." She said in a cool tone, perfectly crafted in a way that anyone would get the message she was getting across as the words came out of her mouth. And it typically worked, however Danny was the one that had managed to break through the ice cold exterior she managed to pt up to shield herself over the years. He grinned, laughing loudly as he walked backwards in front of her.

"Oh c'mon, you used to like it when I did that," he reminded her.

"I think 'used to' are the key words there, mate," Rhuben pointed out. She crossed her arms, holding her drumsticks against her forearm as they continued to walk along. "Anyway, what's up with that phone call? If I'm not mistaken, that's the third one you've got since we got to his house. And we've had a few hang ups whenever one of the rest of us would pick up the phone." She tilted her head to the side. "Should I be concerned?"

"Not unless the person calling shows up at the house, 'no'," Danny replied. "And even then we have good security around the neighborhood so that's not a big deal." He picked up one of her drumsticks and started to twirl it around his finger. It was the only thing he could do on a set of drums and yet he always managed to go through everything in life with a positive attitude.

"Clearly you haven't been on the receiving end of some overzealous fans. Or, for that matter, an overzealous boyfriend."

Now Danny's smile morphed into one that was almost smug. "I'm sorry, but I seem to remember you telling me that I made you happy."

"Yeah, back when I was young and stupid." This time, her eyebrows twitched upwards as she smirked at Danny, wondering how he was going to respond to it. True to his form, it just made him step up his game a bit more, much like he always did whenever he was chasing after a girl. More often than not it was a game to him of some sort, to see how long it would take to get the girl and then once he got her, he got bored.

A light sigh escaped Rhuben's lips a she, annoyingly, thought about what their relationship had been. She could admit that a majority of it had been good, despite both of the having been so young when they started to go out. He had endlessly chased her for a long time until she finally decided to give him a chance and he had been very attentive and helped her out of her shell, showing her that she really was worth something. But then she saw what he couldn't, when he started to pull away a little bit, and knew he was starting to get bored. The point that hurt the most about that was how much time they basically had to spend together as their bands continued to work and live together throughout a lot of their past albums.

"You're not stupid," Danny's voice broke her into her thoughts, making her think about the _other_ thing that seemed to constantly plague her.

How long it had been since their music career had really taken off, like McFly, about ten years. Sure, she and Riley had been about nine years old when they started in the music industry, but they hadn't really been able to get a lot of attention and start their career until they were twelve, Patrick and Noah were ten, and Sydney was five. It was a lot of work and they were pushed very hard, under Robert's managerial skills before having gotten their break. And as excited she was to be able to celebrate McFly's ten years as a band, hers and her siblings' ten years as a band was always a bit more of a bittersweet affair. While their career was very easily some of the best times of their lives, it having been at the expense of some pretty bad times in their lives made it hard to completely enjoy.

She couldn't even being to imagine counting how many times she had passed out due to exhaustion while getting ready for a tour, long nights of no-sleep on a tour bus to be sure they were getting their exercise in, making sure they were writing as many songs as they possibly could within a short time frame.

_Thankfully we can focus on McFly's career this time around, and can deal with ours later. _No sooner has the words crossed her mind did she look over Danny's head and freeze, seeing a familiar face turn the corner. Tilting her head to the side, she stared hard at the spot. There was no way she had just seen the man that had singlehandedly managed to make her hate waking up a day after day than him. Robert Jackson, the foster father from hell whom she thought they had managed to stay out of her life. But it appeared that he was much like an ex-boyfriend in the means that they never completely stayed away.

All of a sudden Rhuben felt sick. And she hated that feeling, knowing what came with it.

Noticing her sudden change in demeanor, Danny stopped and looked at her before looking over his shoulder and then back at her.

"You okay, love?"

"Yeah." She blinked, snapping back to attention. "I just thought I saw someone I knew." She focused her attention back on him and grabbed the drumstick from his hand before poking him in the chest with it. "And how many times do I have to bloody tell you to stop calling me 'love'?"

"Sorry, it's a force of habit."

"I'm sure."

"Oh come on, you and I both know that it turns you on."

"And you and _I _both know that I didn't need to hear that," Noah remarked, slapping his hands over his ears, a disgusted look on his face. "I'm fine nosing into your love life, Sis, but I don't need to know all of the details."

"Or lack of a love life," Riley grinned.

Rhuben's right eyebrow ticked upwards as the right side of her mouth lifted in amusement. "Coming from the girl whose dating pool has been as dry as the Sahara. Right, sis?" She reached out and slapped her sister on the butt, causing her to jump away, rubbing the wound as she laughed. All of a sudden, as the group turned the corner, they found Fletch waiting for them at the end of the hallway.

"Hmm," Matt rubbed his chin. "Ronan's not with you and neither is Jake…so that means that McFly must've done something!" He nodded, placing his hands on his hips as Dougie let out a yelp of outrage and turned towards him in irritation. "What? James and I have barely been here so we didn't have nearly enough time to get into any trouble."

"Crap, he's right," Harry pointed out. He and Tom exchange glances before crossing their arms before turning towards Danny and Dougie, whose eyes widened in surprise. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Danny insisted, voice getting high-pitched.

"That was very convincing, mate," James said sarcastically.

Grimacing, Danny put his arm around Dougie's shoulders and turned the two to the side. "Can you remember doing anything that would have us get Fletched? Nothing in the tabloids, nothing the paparazzi have managed to catch?"

"Mate, I don't even remember what we had for breakfast yesterday," Dougie replied. "Just play dumb and no one will be the wiser."

"That wouldn't be a stretch," Riley commented, smirking as Patrick nodded at her side in agreement.

Fletch smiled a little before turning his attention to James and Matt. "Actually, there's something that I need to speak with you guys about." He waved his arm towards the conference room that stood immediately to their right. "So if you would come this way, I hope that we can have a calm and rational moment because there are some things that we really need to clear the air about." James and Matt exchanged a look before allowing Fletch to lead them through the doorway.

Harry whistled light, pretending to walk by the door before peering inside. He pressed himself against the wall, craning his neck to see before the door closed. "Hey," he said in a stage-whisper. "I think that's Charlie in there!"

With that, the Jacksons exchanged glances before piling on top of each other on the floor, pressing their ears against the door. It was only a few seconds before Dougie, Harry, and Danny were kneeling beside them, listening as well.

"Are you really going to eavesdrop like this?" Tom asked, crossing his arms.

"Shhh!" Came the unanimous reply. "Yes!"

"Don't act like you're so above us not to do it, too," Sydney added, giving him a pointed look.

Tom let out a light sigh, looking at the ceiling. He then looked around the hallway to be sure that no one was watching before leaning over to press his ear against the door as well, holding his necklace in his hand to be sure it didn't knock against the door and give away his position. Peer pressure at its finest.

* * *

**A/N: **Geez, I still can't freaking move this story along faster. Either way, I'm working in more of the humor and romance stuff, so I hope you're at least enjoying that.

Review Reply

_Genehh: _No worries, girl. We hope everything with the job and the move are going well. I'm glad you're enjoying it so much, of course it brings up a lot of memories so I'm having fun writing it as well.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	11. Chapter 11

**.:Chapter Eleven:.**

* * *

"The last thing I want to have is another screaming match about a conversation that can be brought up another time," Fletch said as he looked around the table at the three former band members. Matt shifted in his seat he looked back and forth between James and Charlie, already feeling the tension rise through the air. "What we need to talk about right now is business. Now, I'm sure that you're all aware of the reason that I brought you here being that of McFly is going on their tenth anniversary tour soon and you were asked to work with them."

Clearing his throat for a moment, Fletch looked around at the boys once more. "The DarkElements are their opening band and will sign the contract for that obligation soon. While Jake and I had brought the attention of that towards Ronan, we all came up with the idea of contacting as many people as we could that have significantly helped McFly with their career as time went on. Their family and friends…and everyone knows Busted was a big part of it. If you hadn't kicked Tom out of Busted, then McFly never would've happened and they wouldn't have gotten this far."

"And if we kept him _in _Busted, maybe the band could've kept going," James commented, scratching the side of his head. "Maybe not to the same success, but it would've brought out a lot of great music."

"A lot of _your_ great music, you mean," Charlie cut in.

"Guys." Fletch held up his hands looking back and forth between the two, but Matt knew it was useless.

Once James and Charlie got going, there was nothing that was going to stop them. It was one of the reasons he had turned to drinking in the first place, having stepped ups his 'wild child' antics every time the situation arose. He was tired of being stuck in the middle and wanted nothing more than to get the chance to forget it. Not to mention that he had been abusing drugs and alcohol since he was thirteen, it became a darkness for him by the time Busted had ended.

Earlier, as he didn't remember a thing of their last big tour.

"I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to talk about the opportunity we have in front of us at the minute that I think would be a shame to pass up. There's the opportunity between some of McFly's songs where they would take breaks where we would show video messages from their friends and family, but there's also the opportunity for you guys to come out and play some of your songs. Or, your things from your solo projects if you'd like. Just something that will show your support for them."

Matt cleared his throat. "C'mon mates, this is something that the guys want. And something I and the fans have thought about for a long time. I think it can be fucking awesome if we do it the right way. Even if we don't get back together, to just do it for the fans and get the rest of the shit out of the way." He curled his hands into fists and started to rap his knuckles against the table, rings making a loud clanging sound. "This fight is such fucking shit, too."

"I didn't think I was asking for much when all I wanted was to try different kinds of music when we were just doing the same things over and over again," Charlie commented. "I'll admit the album we didn't really have a choice with the way our music was going because the record company wanted to be sure that we were represented in a different light." Fletch nodded in agreement. "Which is why we had more wiggle room with our second one. But we kept going back with the same things over and over again—"

"And it was working!" James snapped, finally turning to look at Charlie. Matt let out a heavy sigh and looked over at Fletch, who threw his hands into the air and leaned back in his seat, letting the inevitable happen. "Why fix something that isn't broken?"

"Because I don't want to be a one trick pony. Even McFly managed to change their sound and still have a lot of positive reaction to it. You're not the only one that can write songs you know."

"I never said I was."

"Which is why you constantly went to Tom and the others to write songs rather than your own band mates, right?"

"Like any of the things you came up with was any good. And besides, we wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as we did without them, which can be the same for their success. If we didn't work with each other, we wouldn't have won the Brits or anything."

"Which explains why you were so desperate to keep up the fame afterwards that you went on to do both of those failing bands, right?"

"Oh will you two just fuck off?!" Matt finally shouted at the same time Fletch slapped his palm against the table, bringing silence into the room. "James, you think Charlie was being incredibly selfish for leaving the band the way he did. Charlie, you think James was a dictatorial tyrant and were unhappy the longer the band we on. We get it, you have differences of opinion, but we're not fucking talking about that right now. Even though you haven't seen or talked to each other in years, you've kept in touch with McFly. So instead of keeping your heads shoved up your asses, why don't you think about _them _and our _fans _for a change?"

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Fletch pulled at the collar of his shirt. "Listen, this isn't something that's going to happen tomorrow. It's not even going to happen within the next few weeks. The tour doesn't start for a couple of months and even then, the three nights we have scheduled at RAH, where it will specifically be done for their anniversary is in the middle of that. You have plenty of time to deal with your grievances and come to a decision up until we're about to go off on tour." He gestured over towards Matt. "I'm glad at least one of you have a level head through this and can think about the fans and your friends instead of carrying on, excuse me, like a bunch of prats." He reached into the suitcase that was by his feet and pulled out three packets of paper, tossing them at each boy. "Here are your contracts, don't wait too long to give me your responses."

With a final wave of his hand, James and Charlie pushed back from their seats and stormed to of the conference room, the door slamming shut behind them.

"Well," Fletch said. He pursed his lips, turning back towards the lone bassist, who ran his hands over his face before reaching up and starting to tug on his earring. "What do you think?"

"I think I need a drink," he said honestly.

* * *

**A/N: **First arc of the story is officially done! With the start of the next one there'll be a bit of a time jump. Don't worry guys, we'll get to the makings of the tour and the actual tour soon, I just had to get some things out of the way, first. Anything you'd like to see as the story goes on?

Cheers,

-Riles


	12. Chapter 12

**.:Chapter Twelve:.**

* * *

"Okay, we're releasing the singles that you guys and Busted did for _Love Is On The Radio _earlier today and we'll follow that up with some interviews with the Daily Mail and some phone interviews with newspapers from back in Australia as well as some from America. However, I should warn you there's a good chance it's going to bring up the question about your guys' involvement with McFly as well as what's going on with Charlie." Ronan lowered the pad of paper that sat in front of him and regarded his clients as they sat around the conference table in front of him. He gave them all a critical eye as they returned his stare with innocent smiles. "Though I think you know how to answer that question by now, even if it's none of your business."

"Oh come on, Ronan," Sydney commented, sitting up straight. "By now you know that _everything _is our business." He held up a finger. "Especially when said things are behind closed doors. It's not our fault that our real Dad passed on the gene of being inquisitive."

"You mean of being eavesdroppers?"

"If that's what you want to call it, sure."

"But then when someone tries to get your advice you say it's none of your business and you try stay out of it." Ronan laughed lightly, trying to make sense of the way that his adoptive kids' minds worked. Despite knowing them for over ten years, it was still hard for him to be able to work with them without getting a headache at least at one point of the day.

"Only when it comes to this," Riley pointed out. She leaned back in her office chair, rolling her eyes lightly. "We've had this conversation so many times before and nothing new _ever _comes out of it. James is stubborn and Charlie stubborn. Both of them think they're right. And in many ways, both of them are; if a formula is working, you keep doing it, yeah?"

"That's what Taylor Swift does," Patrick pointed out.

Riley pointed at him as he helped prove her point. She then turned back to Ronan as she continued. "However, she's also getting a lot of backlash for it, yeah? Because it's not how the music industry works. Music changes all the time, you can't be a one-trick pony. So in that case, Charlie was right to be upset that he wasn't being listened to and if it were me, I would've told James off earlier than he had."

"You have," Rhuben pointed out. "And in a really loud tone of voice, too."

"So have you," Sydney added to which Rhuben bobbed her head back and forth for a few seconds.

"But think of it this way," Riley spoke up once more. "Where would our band be if we continued to do the music we had done before? Where would McFly be if they continued to write songs like _That Girl? _Nowhere. Our band is the way it is because we're diverse in a lot of genres and styles." She paused as bitterness crept into her tone. "Though, needless to say, we didn't always have a choice in that."

Ronan gave her a knowing look as he turned his head to the side. "So you're on Charlie's side in this argument."

The young Australian woman shrugged as a smirk tugged at her lips and a gleam appeared in her eye. "It's none of my business."

Laughing lightly, the music producer leaned back in his seat. That was the answer they always gave, especially towards interviewers that always found some way to sneak in a question about Busted's demise and the fallout between two of its members. It had to be hard, in that aspect, to be friends with them and in the entertainment industry in any capacity for that reason alone, as it was a hot topic that was never left alone. Fletch was the one that got hit with it the most, being McFly's and Busted's manager for such a long time. Going from questions about being the 'next Lou Pearlman' in the means of pitting the two bands against each other to being asked if he felt that the success of the newer band—McFly—over his first band had been his fault. Add in the fact that there were already rumors going around of a meeting between Fletch, Matt, James, and Charlie from two months before at the recording studio, things weren't as easy as they could be.

"Well, it's a good thing I got you into that room before you got trampled considering how fast James and Charlie came flying out of that room," he said, tossing the pad of paper onto the table. "It doesn't look like they're going to be talking again anytime soon." As he said that, all eyes turned towards Rhuben, who shifted her eyes back and forth before sitting up straight.

"What?" There was a light edge to her tone.

"You know they're going to ask if you've been in contact with him at all, Rhu," Ronan pointed out to her. "Or if there're any issues between you, him, and Danny now that there are pictures of him at the studio going around." At the irritated expression on the drummer's face, Ronan shrugged. "You knew there was a chance it was going to happen, anything that comes up on Social Media that can be linked back to us in some way is going to be done. Especially because of the questions that are off-limits."

"How _is _Robert doing, anyway?" Noah crossed his arms, leaning forward and resting his body weight on the table. His chin on his arms caused his head to bob up and down as he spoke. "He was at the studio that day, right?"

"He's doing well," Ronan nodded appreciatively. "He's doing a lot of good work with the company, slowly rising up through the ranks again. As much of a temper he had, he's a good talent manager and works alongside Matt the recruiter very well. He's only out here in London as a favor to me, but is asking if you guys want to meet up with him for dinner, but understands if you don't want to."

He understood if they didn't want to either. Their relationship with their abusive foster father was strange even to someone that had seen very strange things in the music industry for years. After Robert had lost his rights as a parent towards the five Australians, he had paid his fine, did his hours of community service, and enrolled in numerous programs that would help him come to terms with his own abuse as a child as well as the anger management issues he needed to deal with. Having returned to gain some closure over what happened with the five of them a few years prior, they weren't anywhere close to being friends (especially as it had managed to bring out numerous instances of PTSD within the Jacksons once more) but it had been therapeutic for them to confront their abuser to the point that they met up with Robert every now and then to catch up on each other's lives.

It seemed to be helping them more and more as time went on, but Ronan was always still weary whenever Robert came around, in case something set him off. Things seemed to be working out well for all of them; going on tour was going to make it easier. They could focus their attention on music and performing for all of their family, friends, and fans. _Though, _he supposed. _It's a better question than constantly having their personal lives analyzed to death. _

"We'll think about," Noah replied. "Not making any promises, it really depends on what our schedules are going to look like now that we have to get ready for tour. Not only do we have to go over all of our songs to figure out which one we want to do live, but we have to re-arrange them so we're not doing the same thing we've done years before."

"And considering it's not long until we you have to get started working on another album, I want you to keep in mind that this new album may have a new style change as well as the fact that once this tour with McFly is done we'll have to quickly go to Australia so that we can promote it as well as the single you just put out." Ronan looked at his watch before pushing back his chair. "That's all I needed to go over with you guys this time, I'll call you guys to let you know the kinds of press tour you guys will be going on. And I'll rent some rehearsal space so you can get some dance practice in; you're going to need that as well."

Rhuben smiled at him, lightly tapping the tips of her fingers together. "You mean you don't want to stay and have some lunch or something?"

The music producer gave her an odd look as there was a sudden crashing sound and loud yelling from somewhere above their heads. "And have to deal with that? I don't think so. You guys are already crazy enough when you're by yourselves, but in a house with McFly _and _James and Matt? I don't think so. I'm going back to my apartment where I can actually relax and not worry every second of the day that you're going to end up in jail somehow."

"Smart man," Sydney remarked, causing his siblings to laugh. "We'll see you later, Ronan."

"See ya." Ronan got up and started to gather his things together while his adoptive children got out of their seats and headed towards the office door. They opened it just in time to see Dougie race by the door with Harry and Danny chasing quickly behind him. "And, just so you all know, this is the last time I'll meet with you guys here. You're coming to my apartment next time." He turned to Sydney as he was the last one to leave the room and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you mind hanging back for a minute, Little Man?" He asked him.

The fifteen year old Australian teen nodded and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for the rest of his brothers and sisters to leave the room. Riley glanced over at him for a moment, only closing the door once Ronan gave her a reassuring nod. He then turned back to his youngest son, studying him for along moment. When he first met Sydney and his siblings, the youngest boy was only a little kid when he first stumbled across him and his siblings and throughout the time he had grown up while working with their band, he had never seen him so quiet. Normally he followed his brothers and sisters in everything they did, but with an air of maturity and intellect that managed to make their crazy pans that much more interesting. He had never seen Sydney so quiet in his entire life and always became worried when he did.

Not only was a sense of mental reversion to that of a five year old Sydney's main sign of suffering form PTSD, but there was also his case of hiding behind people and becoming so inherently shy that he usually referred his answers to his older siblings, causing much more worry.

"What's going on, Syd?" Ronan asked. Sydney shrugged, turning away from his best friend and adoptive father. The music producer waited patiently. "I know it's not teenage hormones of whatever that's bothering you and I know it's nothing your brothers or sisters have done or else you would have confronted them about it by now. So what is it?" Sydney continued to stay quiet and Ronan changed tactics. "I suppose that you miss your girlfriend, that you want to go home? Maybe you feel homesick that Julius isn't here. You spent a lot of time with him and Brittany, the most time in almost your entire life, before you came out here to help the guys."

"It's not that," Sydney finally muttered. He raised and lowered his shoulder in a Jackson-esque shrug and turned to face his adoptive father once more. "Not really, yeah? It's…I've just been thinking lately…about the band…and my future."

"What about your future? You're fifteen you have nothing _but _a future in front of you. Not to mention you're probably going to be the next Bill Gates and put the rest of us to shame."

"Oh, that's my backup plan." The teenager's smirk faded after a minute. "You know, if my plan for complete domination in the science world doesn't pan out." He shook his head. "No, it's just…I've been in this band for a long time and…I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it."

"Where's this coming from, Little Man?"

Visibly bristling, Sydney puffed up his cheeks before letting out a short breath through his nose. "It's not coming from nowhere, Ronan! I've been thinking about this for a long time. The first time I thought about it was when I was twelve….because of it being the ten year anniversary since Mum and Dad…" he trailed off for a minute then licked his lips anxiously. "Ronan, I don't know if I want to do the band anymore. I've spent more of my life in the music industry than I have being a kid. Especially because of being a part of Mensa and having so many people that want to work with me. I mean, all of these papers and dissertations and stuff are really cool to work on, but I haven't really had a chance to be a normal kid or anything. I'm…I'm just starting to wonder if I'd be happier if I wasn't working so hard."

"I know what you mean, Syd," Ronan said.

"You do?" His eyes widened with earnest.

"I do. Sometimes you sit and wonder if what you're doing is really what you want out of life, if it's what you're _supposed _to be doing. But that's the thing about life, Syd. There's always just as many opportunities that come your way than you turn down. If you don't think this is right for you, then it might not be right for you. Don't beat yourself up about it."

Now Sydney's eyes widened in confusion and…a little bit of awe. He never expected Ronan to say something like that. Not that he was someone that never supported his kids when they expressed their feelings and views to him, as a matter of fact it was why he was one of the first people they trusted after Robert had pushed them into the music industry. (Not to mention they had actually hated Ronan at first). He was the one that listened to them, what they wanted out of their music, helped them write down some of their most intimate thoughts into some of their biggest hits, and was like a big brother figure and a father figure all rolled into one. As their relationship had grown over the years, it was no surprise that they grew to prefer him over nearly everyone else in the world, jumping at the immediate moment they were told he and Jake were conserving adopting them. Jake did it out of the kindness of his heart, wanting nothing more than for them to have a good life after Robert, even becoming the Jacksons' friend with ease, but even knew Ronan was the only choice for that position.

That didn't mean that Ronan wasn't realistic when he needed to be, telling them when things they wanted to do was going to help their reputation and their image or hurt it, as well as berating them for decisions they made that may not have had the best consequences when the time came. He was as big a part of their band as they were, so no knowing that Sydney wanted to leave—with the rule that the DarkElements would end if one of them wanted to quiet—he didn't understand why he was essentially giving himself the chance to be out of a job.

"Okay."

"Have you told you brothers and sisters about it yet?"

"No. I keep bloody going back and forth. There's a part of me that really wants this, but there's a part of me that loves being in a band just as much as anything I've ever done. And you know the entertainment industry, if you take a break you may as well have just retired."

"Ooh, what a shame, retiring by fifteen years 's the end of the world." Ronan rolled his eyes playfully before reaching out and ruffling his youngest son's hair. "Listen, don't worry about this now. Just…focus on having fun with the guys on their tour, it's a big accomplishment for them and you know they want you there just as much as you want to be."

"No worries."

"Good. I'll see you later."

Ronan hitched his backpack up over his shoulder and left the office room and the house, managing to get by before being run over by Dougie and Harry as the athletic band member finally managed to catch the youngest band member. Ronan got onto the motorcycle he parked out in the driveway and drove into the city to his apartment, opting not to stay with Fletch and Jake at Fletch's place, wanting to have some space to himself. _It may be one of the last times you get to revel in time to yourself, _Ronan had reminded himself as he turned down the offer.

Once he arrived at the apartment, he found his phone ringing off the hook. Dropping his backpack to the ground he hurried over to it, ignoring the twinge of pain in his knee and picked it up. "Hello, this is Ronan."

"Ronan, it's Dr. McGee, I'm calling with the results about your biopsy and, unfortunately, it's as bad as we thought it would be."

His heart immediately dropped to his feet and his body felt as if he had been doused by a bucket of cold water. Tilting his head back, he rested it on the plaster behind him. He did that once, then a second time, then a third time, hitting himself harder and harder as the seconds passed, then slammed his clenched fist against the wall, hard enough for it to release the pent up emotion in him, but not enough to break through the wall.

He brought the phone back to his ear and found Dr. McGee quiet, waiting for him to process the room. "I'm so sorry to give you the news, Ronan, I really am. But thankfully we caught it early so it's something we can help you. Now, I understand you're in London right now and there are some great facilities out there that you can—"

"—No," Ronan interrupted. "Don't worry about it."

"Ronan, I must insist—"

"—I have too much stuff to do while I'm out here. We're going on tour soon. Look, I'll get a doctor out here to make sure everything's going okay. If it's been this long and nothing has happened, I can last a little bit longer. I'll be okay. I just…I just need some time to get some things done before I can sit back and get….get chemotherapy."

"If that's what you want."

"It is."

There was another long silence that stretched between them that only the sound of the running refrigerator punctuated. It hung heavy in the air, almost as much as the sense of pleading his doctor was obviously trying to hide. Things had to be worse than he thought if they wanted him to go into treatment as soon as possible. But they had caught it early hadn't they? So what was the rush? It wasn't like his hair was going to spontaneously fall out would it?

"Okay, Ronan, okay. We can do that. But…but I advise you to tell you kids, your parents, your friends, as soon as you can. I'm not saying this is anything that'll take a turn for the worse, but having a support system behind you is something you'll need in your corner. And pardon me for asking; you're in the entertainment industry aren't you?"

_Right, like you don't know my whole story, _Ronan thought. _Like you haven't been my doctor for the past fifteen years. Not like you don't read those magazines you leave out in the waiting room all the time. _It was something he had always been proud of, youngest music producer to get a song to number one, have a long string of hits since then, continuously work with clients that bring a lot of attention towards his record company, adopted some of his clients. There weren't many people that didn't know his name. However, there was a part of him that was bitter about it, knowing the only reason he had gotten so good at his job was because of all of the time he put into it while his parents ignored him.

Now, however, his name was going to be synonymous for something he wasn't prepared for.

"Yes, I am."

"Well, then you know there is a nasty habit of there being things that get out when we don't want them to. That it'll blow up to be a big thing, I don't want that to happen before you get a chance to deliver the news yourself."

"I understand. Thank you for your concern."

Ronan slowly turned around and replaced the phone on its cradle. He let out a long breath that seemed to reap his soul more than the emotion and fear he wanted to get out. But he couldn't focus on that right now; he had a tour to get ready for.


	13. Chapter 13

**.:Chapter Thirteen:.**

* * *

"So who was he?" Dougie draped himself over the back of the couch and rested his cheek in his upraised palm. With his other hand, he ran his fingertips along the surface of the couch cushion as if trying to seduce it.

Startled, Riley looked up from her laptop, textbook, and notebook. She tilted her head back and pushed her glasses up her nose before regarding him with an odd look. "Sorry?"

"I don't care that you're sorry that you're no longer together. I just want to know who he is."

"What?"

Dougie rolled over the top of the couch and landed next to her, jostling the cushions so that Riley scrambled to grab everything before it fell to the ground. He then stretched out his feet and made a show of wiggling his toes into her face before she grabbed his pinkie toe and twisted it hard enough for him to screech in pain and bring his foot back. She smiled, turning back to her computer with a frown. "What are you doing?" He finally asked.

"Homework," she replied with a light sigh. "I have to get this assignment done before midnight or else I'm going to get a failing grade."

"Why would you want to do that?" Dougie asked, an expression of pure horror coming onto his face. "I mean, we joined bands to get _away _from school."

"Maybe _you _did, but I'm using my education to fall back on." She reached out with her pen and tapped him on the knee before going back to her computer. "What were you going on about before?"

"Oh yeah! That." Dougie sat up Indian style, flicking his long blond hair out of his face with a shake of his head. "Your last boyfriend. Who was it?" He held up a finger. "Now, I've been doing some digging and you haven't been in a relationship for at least two years, meaning this was a fairly recent breakup. Who was the last guy and what happened?"

With a smile, Riley reached out and closed the lid of her computer, knowing she wasn't going to get any work done if he was going to be around. "Let's see," she settled back into the couch and thought for a moment before nodding. "He was a blond haired, green eyed, health obsessed boybander."

Dougie nodded, his fingertip pressed to his chin. "Uh-huh, uh-huh. Which one?"

She laughed and pushed him away from her. "I'm not telling you. You were the one that was doing some digging, remember."

"Yes, but I meant up my nose."

The Australian girl made a gagging sound and Dougie giggled at his own humor before reaching out and grabbing onto her textbook. He turned it back and forth, frowning as he turned page after page. "What the heck is this?"

"It's for my Creative Media class in uni." She grabbed the textbook back and closed it with a loud snap. "Right now we're talking about how people use social media and other pieces of digital media throughout their life."

"Oh. No wonder it's so boring."

Dougie smiled as Riley reached out and grabbed onto his face. "You're lucky you're cute, yeah?" She gently shook his head back and forth. "Because I'm still not entirely sure there's anything in your head."

"I'm your best friend, too!" Dougie added with a cheeky smile.

"That too." She rolled off of the couch and looked over towards the doorway to the living room as Matt walked through, heading towards the kitchen. "Mattie!" She shouted, getting his attention. Startled, he whirled towards her, nearly falling against the wall and Riley raced over to him, jumping onto his back. "To the kitchen!" She declared.

"Got it."

Dougie laughed and followed them to the kitchen to find his friends all gathered around the kitchen table, cards in their hands. Tom looked up over the face of his cards and eyed Harry, James, Patrick, and Sydney as they looked through their own cards. "Poker?" Dougie asked as he dropped into the seat next to Rhuben.

"Yep," She replied, twirling a pair of drumsticks around her fingers, an earbud dangling from her right ear so she could still hear her friends. "They're playing over who has to do dishes tonight. Though it would be ten times easier if we just made a chore chart."

A snort escaped Dougie's lips, causing the purple clad girl to roll her eyes. "Who makes charts? This is a lot more entertaining way to do it." He leaned forward over Danny's cards and made a face as he righted himself. "But not with Danny's cards!" He reached out and slapped Danny on the back. "C'mon Dan, we're men, we're not supposed to be doing dishes."

"I wouldn't have said that if I were you," Noah murmured, resting his chin in his hand as he gazed at his friends, concentrating on the game. "Or else you're going to be saddled with double chores this time around."

"We're in a band, we're not supposed to be doing chores," James agreed.

"Did you ever see the house that we lived in when we first started?" Harry asked. He leaned back in his seat, nursing a beer to go along with his sandwich and chips. "The walls were nearly gray by the time we left it."

"So?" Matt tilted his head to the side.

"They were white when we first got there." The drummer shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm not going through that again. We're going to keep this place as clean as we possibly can. And if we have to play games of poker to make sure we have a chore chart so I don't have to do it all myself, then we're going to do that."

McFly's bassist pouted, resting his chin in his hands. "I miss when you were fun." He reached out and took Harry's beer bottle, guzzling what was left of it, and then handed it back to him. "Instead you got house trained and now you're not as fun."

"Can we show our cards yet?" Sydney asked, drumming his fingertips on the table top. "You're just delaying the inevitable."

"Fine." Pursing his lips, Tom moved his cards into his palm. "We'll show them all at once and whoever wins gets to choose who does what chores and then we'll switch each week. Okay?" Once he got the unanimous reply, he shuffled his cards around his hands, albeit nervously. "On the count of three. One, two, three." The band members put down their cards and there was a moment of silence before Tom and Harry let out shrieks of surprise, grabbing onto the front of their heads. "No way! There's no way that you managed to get a Royal Flush!"

"Yes!" Patrick cheered, throwing his hands into the air.

"He has to cheat or something." James picked up the remaining cards that were in the deck and looked through them. "There's no way he could win that many times in a row." Sydney's eyebrows twitched upwards as he smirked; taking the cards they had just put down and put them all together. "Do you count cards?"

"It's your own fault, mate," Riley pointed out. "Playing any game against a genius is just going to make you question your sanity."

Rhuben held up a finger. "Good news is that we can benefit from it." She laughed and gave Sydney a high-five as he laughed. "Okay, so this means that McFly are doing the dishes and trash this week, Busted is doing the cleaning, and we've got the food covered."

"Oh come on, that's not fair! You could just order in or something and then you wouldn't have to do anything," Danny complained.

"Considering how health conscience you lot have become, I don't think that's going to be a problem." As if to prove his point, Patrick cracked open his can of Rockstar and tilted his head back, finishing it in one gulp. Lifting his hand over his head, he lobbed it towards the trash can and pumped his fist when it flew inside. "And, of course, that's just as long as we don't snack on everything."

"If you follow the meal plan I made," Harry said.

"Meal plan, schmeal plan," Tom interrupted. "We know the kinds of questions _he's _going to be asked when we start doing our interviews." Dougie smiled as his friends all started to laugh around him. This was the life, one without school, work, or any sort of responsibility that most people his age fell over themselves to get done. All he had to do was right songs, record songs, and perform songs when it was time for them to go on tour. That was the best part, being able to forget everything and just have fun as he pranced around the stage.

And he didn't have fun more than when he was hanging out with his friends and performing. His phone vibrating in his pocket caught his attention and he turned to the side and pulled it out, already knowing who it was from. He glanced at the screen for a second before letting out a light sigh. Having received the first message the night before, he had been a bit curious over what was to happen if he did answer it…and he must have for he had woken up to another text saying where to meet. Yet, he didn't remember it at all. He remembered his splitting headache, the urge to throw up, groaning at the loud sounds that managed to come from all over the house, and feeling as if he were dying.

Hangovers were supposed to be the cure from drinking so much, but that never stopped him. It made him make a lot of mistakes, but it never made him stop drinking. It was the best way for him to feel like himself, instead of constantly wanting to rip off the skin he felt uncomfortable in. No matter what he did, no matter how open he was with people, he found his skin crawling to the point that it was as if bugs were constantly running over him. That's what the drinking as for, anything that would take his mind off it.

"Hey guys, I have to go into town, I'm meeting up with some people," Dougie said as he got up from his seat, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "But I'll be back later for those super fun phone interviews we have to do." He gave an overly exaggerated thumbs up before rolling his eyes.

"I can already imagine that one," Danny said with a grin as he motioned over to Dougie. "The reporter will ask him as many questions as they can and he'd either give abnormally strange answers or not say anything at all. When the transcripts come out it'll just be a series of dots in response to where Doug didn't say anything."

"Ha ha." With a sarcastic laugh, Danny whacked him upside the back of the head. "Woops! There went the last of your brain cells!" He gave his band member the finger before making a show of blowing a kiss and giving a pageant wave to his friends and left out the door. He went over to his car as it was parked in front of the house and quickly climbed inside. He started the car and drove into town before he could lose his nerve.

Once parking, he slid his sunglasses over his eyes and started to walk to the restaurant that he had been directed to go to. _This is the last time I drink and text, _he thought with a light shake of his head. _Especially if I'm drunk texting a guy. I didn't get anything good in response. _He spotted the restaurant in front of him and slowed to a stop. Taking in a deep breath he started to turn around and go back the way he came, but clenched his teeth. This wasn't a good idea, he knew that now. But…there was also a big part of him that wanted nothing more than to get his over with. If he didn't go now, he would consistently get nothing but texts and messages he wouldn't be able to avoid.

Especially if they started to get sent to his mother, sister, and step-father. Speaking of which, he really did need to talk to his sister. Glancing around to be sure there were no cameras pointed his way, he sat down on a nearby bench and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

**Dougie: **Hey, did you get a strange text message recently?

It didn't take long to get a response, though longer than he wanted. That was something he had gotten used to though, especially since Jazzie had managed to get her own group of friends and spent more time outside of the house with them or constantly taking on the phone. If he managed to get an over-the-top response or a bunch of smiley faces, he was going to give her a stern talking to.

**Jazzie: **That really depends on what your definition of strange is. Though with you, Dougs, strange can mean a lot of things.

**Dougie: **I don't mean nudie pics or anything like that. I mean something strange from Dad.

**Jazzie: **Only you would refer to it as that. And, gross! But no, I haven't gotten anything from Dad. I haven't heard from him in a while. Have you?

He thought about telling her the truth, but knew it wasn't the best idea. If he brought it up to her, then she'd bring it up to their mother, and if their Mum found out it would just bring back the darkness and the tension that had surrounded them as he had joined the band. As his band had continued to grow in popularity and success he sent as much of his paycheck back home as he could, but he still avoided it. It was a welcome change when he had returned home during a break, to visit them, and found things were a lot happier than they had been before. His mother smiled a lot and Jazzie was as much of a social butterfly as she had been before. Of course, he found, that was because his mother had started dating again, which didn't particularly sit well with him, but at least she was happy.

He didn't want to ruin that.

**Dougie: **Not especially. A text on my birthday here and there. He hadn't done that in a while.

**Jazzie: **Me either. I just blocked his number. Should I be expecting a message from him?

**Dougie: **No. I got something last night and responded to it. I don't even know who it was, so I might be meeting up with a bird or something.

**Jazzie: **I don't need to know about your love life, Dougs. Just let this be a lesson that drunk texting never ends up well. I have a lot of good screen grabs of some of the things you've sent me though. Like when you had the existential thought that we were really just ants waiting to be crushed by the giant mole people that are watching us.

**Dougie: **It's possible. Don't come crying to me when you get squished under one of their big feet.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and looked over towards the restaurant once more. His breath caught in his throat as he spotted a man sitting at a table by himself, facing Dougie's direction. He must not have noticed the bassist sitting nearby despite Dougie outwardly staring at him. He looked exactly the same as he had remembered, if not a little bit older with graying hair and a face that appeared to be less rugged than he remembered. Nevertheless, he recognized the man's mannerism in waiting; rapping his hands up and down on the table with a flick of his wrist.

The same thing Dougie did.

He ran his hands up and down the sides of his jeans and curled his fingers into his palm then stood up and walked over to the restaurant. As he approached the man he looked up and locked his blue-green eyes on Dougie, the very same that Dougie had managed to inherit from him.

"Hey Dad," Dougie greeted Elliot Poynter in a quiet voice.

As his father stared back at him for a moment, Dougie's sense of anxiety went into overdrive. It was a bad idea. What was he doing there? Why did he think it was a good idea? He hadn't seen the man in about eight years, not a word from him, even the text messages he received for his birthday was nothing. Just a simple Happy B-day. Who did that? Who sent a text as simple as that for a birthday? This man did, apparently. It was just as emotion that was put into the note he left behind when he left his family in the first place. Just saying he was done. Who did that in a note, too? It was the coward's way out; he would've preferred to see him face to face, to get a real reason as to why he left. To know if it was something he had done—something he wondered about for a long time—or if it was some selfish reason that he truly did not want to know the answer to.

Honestly. He had lied in his bed for hours, long enough to think about the kinds of scenarios that would've come up when his father did manage to show his face once more. Though there was also a portion of him that wanted to do nothing more than to kill him as soon as he laid eyes on the man. Now that he had his chance…he knew he couldn't go through with it.

"Dougie." Elliot smiled. He then looked his son up and down, as if trying to place him, his eyes crinkling at the corners much like Dougie's did when he was smiling or laughing. "It's good to see you. I didn't think you would come. Your mother told me I shouldn't hold my breath."

Dougie stared at the man in disbelief. "You…you talked to Mum?"

"Not talked more that I was yelled at," Elliot admitted. "It was a tough conversation, but we've been speaking for a couple of months now, trying to work things out. I wanted to get into contact with you and Jazzie and she said that you may not respond. I was very much surprised when you did."

_I was drunk _Dougie thought. _That didn't count. _But he couldn't find the words to come out of his mouth. Instead, he pulled back the seat and slowly sat down, in danger of slipping off the edge and crashing to the ground as he kept his eyes on his father. Watching him. Waiting. For what? For him to leap across the table and suddenly have his neck in his grasp? For not responding to him in any of the times he attempted to reach out before? None of it was Dougie's fault, it was all on Elliot, but as he usually did when he was around the man, he felt as if he was only a few inches tall, looking up at a giant.

"It's been a very long time since we talked."

"You haven't been around."

"I know." Elliot leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "I was very selfish, Dougie. I was keen to find a life that I didn't have. Your mother and I…there was a lot of problems within our marriage that we tried to work through—"

Dougie held up his hand and swiftly cut Elliot off. He didn't want to hear it. He couldn't hear it. The marriage was none of his business. It was his relationship with his father that was the point. The father that had done everything he could to try and be the man Dougie was to look up to. He tried to get him into sports, footy being the one that Dougie had taken up, even if it was for a little while before he had gotten into skateboarding. His father hadn't really been supportive of Dougie's skateboarding, he found it too individualized with nothing but trouble to come from it. That had been one of their arguments; Elliot hadn't wanted Dougie to squander away his means of socializing with different people, to socializing with a bunch of 'trouble makers' as he put it. Dougie didn't care; he was as much of a loner then as he continued to grow to be. Names like 'Grunger' and 'Emo-Boy' popping up more times than he could care to count.

It didn't bother Elliot so much as it was a bit of a nuisance. That had been their last argument and the next thing he knew, his father was gone. Poof. Disappeared into thin air and all that was left was a haze of bitterness, a crying mother, a sad sister, an empty son, and a crushed lizard. In his hate it was possible that Elliot had accidentally stepped on Dougie's pet as he left the house, not noticing it had gotten out of its cage. That hurt more than anything else. His lizards were his life, and much like everything else that Dougie had known, Elliot had taken him away.

"I need a drink," he muttered and signaled the waiter to bring him a beer. Elliot ordered the same and a small appetizer to split between the table. Dougie snickered at the thought. Splitting an appetizer. What was this? A date? A friendly outing?

More like taking the piss out of an awkward situation. If he were out with the guys, things would be different; they'd be talking about boobs, and farts, and dicks, and everything middle school aged humor that made boys giggle and laugh 'til the sun went down. And that was just when they were hanging out, when they were writing songs, things got to be even more delirious with late nights and the only thing keeping them awake being coffee and energy drinks. They'd write some of the silliest songs they could think of as well as the gem that would be their next single. And he'd be happy. And he'd be comfortable.

Instead of wondering how long it was going to take for him to get up and leave the table, half wanting to know what it was that that his father wanted, half wanting to chuck the table onto his face.

Then Elliot had spilled everything out on the table with him, as if sensing Dougie's discomfort. Or else he was uncomfortable as well; the young bassist couldn't be sure. There was always something about Elliot that put him on edge; where the emotion on his face didn't quite match up to his eyes. He said the same thing that was said in the movies, the universal words about a parent or an ex that managed to come back into the unsuspecting main character's life.

_"I want to be in your life again."_

_"I made a mistake."_

_"I want to fix things."_

_"I was selfish."_

He had managed to go through every single cliché he had expected there to be. As a matter of fact he had imagined the exact same scenario before during one of his long sleepless nights. And he had reacted the same way he had imagined. Not that he remembered it; before he knew it, he was walking down the sidewalk of the hopes, away from his father and away from the confusing conversation. Popping a mint into his mouth, Dougie sucked hard on it as he made his way back to his car.

"Dougie!" The bassist turned around and greeted Jacqui with a nod as she hurried up to him, her bags slapping against her sides. "Hey, what are you doing out here? I thought you guys had a bunch of interviews and stuff today."

"We do," Dougie agreed as the two fell in step with each other. "I just had someone I needed to meet with in person. And those phone interviews are always the same. What music are we working on, what do we see ourselves doing in the future, who are we currently listening to, who do we think is fit? All they have to do is take the answers from an old interview, spin it a different way, and cash in on that."

"Well, you know the entertainment industry," Jacqui agreed. "They're always trying to get their next big story."

"So what are you doing out here?"

"I'm taking a break from studying," Jacqui agreed. "I've have so much homework to do this past week that I felt like I was starting to go stir crazy." She held up her bags and grinned. "So a bit of retail therapy helped out a bit."

Taking a closer look at the bags, Dougie couldn't help but laugh when he spotted a familiar face on the side. "And I see that you went to that Harry Potter tour again."

"You can never have too many magic wands, Dougie," Jacqui said. Her eyes then flashed in amusement as she rapidly raised and lowered her eyebrows. Despite her not having said it out loud, he could practically hear her singing 'that's what she said' to accompany her—he wasn't sure if it was intentional—double entendre. "So, if you don't mind me asking, who were you out here meeting?"

"Sorry?" He turned towards her and stumbled, almost losing his balance completely. He quickly got back to his feet, straightening out his clothes as she shook his head, fending off the dizziness that was coming for him. "What did you say?"

"You said you were out here meeting someone? Is it someone I know?"

He twisted his mouth to the side and thought for a moment. Keeping this all quiet he knew was not going to help him in the long run. Normally he talked to Tom, Harry, and Danny about his problems with his Dad, especially with the things his abandonment of his family had done to him. But Jacqui was one of his close friends, she and Gen being around him and the others since his band had first arrived in New York. The Jacksons had met them quickly while Jacqui had been visiting the city from her home in New Jersey and Gen visiting the city from Canada for a few weeks. Having friends that weren't in the industry was a lot easier than wondering if there were people he wasn't sure was friendly with him for his fame or for a genuine reason.

"Would you believe I was talking to my Dad?" he asked.

"No," Jacqui said honestly. Her shoulders dropped in surprise. "I wouldn't. But since you just came out and said it…" At Dougie's wry smile she shook her head. "That must've been really hard, you haven't seen him in so long…do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he admitted. "But I will soon. I just…I really need to wrap my head around it." And to make sure that his head didn't keep spinning as it was. At the moment, he was doing his best to keep from falling to the ground. "Did you park nearby? I'll walk you back to your car." He picked up some of the bags she was holding and when he reached for more, she pulled the bag back.

"You're just trying to get to my new Harry Potter stuff," she declared.

"Please, I can buy my own magic wands!" Dougie replied with a wave of his hand. "I'm just trying to be nice, but if you want me to be a jerk, I can do that too." He made a show of sticking his nose into the air and power walking down the sidewalk. Jacqui laughed as she moved to catch up to him.

"You can't be a jerk, Dougie, you're too nice for that," She said. "Thank you for walking me to my car."

"Well, I can't have someone make the mistake of jumping out at you. I mean, mere muggles can't take on a witch. I'd feel really sorry for them if they suddenly get hit with an unforgiveable curse or something. Now me, I'd just be sitting at Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks."

"I think you know a little bit too much about Harry Potter," Jacqui teased.

Dougie beamed. "All thanks to Tom." He then paused, eyebrows furrowing. "Which makes a _lot _of sense."

The two laughed.

* * *

**A/N: **Chapters will get longer, I'm usually able to get closer to 5000 words as a minimum, but I've had to set some things up before I got to that point so…I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. Dougie's back story with his father was always interesting for me to write so it's fun to bring up in another story; one that doesn't end so tragically.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	14. Chapter 14

**.:Chapter Fourteen:.**

* * *

"How is it that they manage to be late for just about everything we need them to be on time for?" Jake asked as he looked at his watch. Once he saw that only a few minutes had passed since the last time he had checked the time, he pushed his glasses up his nose and started to pace back and forth.

"Uh, this is McFly we're talking about," Fletch pointed out to them, a bright smile on his face. He had become used to it much longer than Jake ever had the chance to. It had gotten to the point that he would be worried if the band ever arrived on time. "Busted and the DarkElements may be the most punctual bunch, but once McFly are involved you're going to be late no matter what."

Ronan sat quietly in his seat but smiled and nodded along with the two managers. He raised a hand and rubbed it along the side of his face, letting out a slight yawn. As soon as he finished the movement he sat up straight in his leather armchair and widened his eyes slightly, hoping he was able to hide his fatigue. He then went on to change the subject so that any attention that would potentially go his way was moved back over to Jake, "Are you sure you're not just projecting your worries onto the fact that Ashley and Katy are headed over here?"

The sheepish smile on the man's face proved that Ronan was indeed correct. "Man, you're twenty-nine years old, you have to have some more confidence in yourself than that," Fletch commented. "This girl is already going out with you and was even interested in you when you had that bad luck streak. I think if the sky is going to fall it would have by now."

"Not unless that luck they claimed they had really _was _transferred over to Katy thus rendering them completely useless with each other." Ronan barely managed to get the words out of his mouth before he and Fletch caught each other's eye and burs tout into hysterical laughter, the boisterous sound bouncing around the green room that was set up for the bands much like amplifiers had been strategically been placed around.

Jake rolled his blue eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "I know it sounds really weird, but you guys were there to witness it."

"I wasn't," Fletch defended himself, still laughing as he raised his hand. "I was still dealing with their career over here and working on some affiliates with people in Glasgow while all of this was going on. Last I heard, they were seconds away from coming back here after that disastrous performance in the bowling alley."

"Bad lucky," Jake clarified.

"Coincidence," Ronan rebutted.

"Whatever." Jake looked at his watch once more, his attention shifted over towards the opening door to the green room. He grinned as Ashley Albright and his cousin Katy Applee came through the door. "Hey!" He reached out his arms towards Katy but she put up her hand, pushing him backwards as Ashley laughed her throaty laugh.

"Don't hug me first, dummy," Katy said with a light roll of her eyes. She motioned towards Ashley, who was still chuckling. "Hug her! She's your girlfriend, she's more important!" Crossing her arms over her chest, Katy oversaw the hug before taking her rightful place. "Jake!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Hey Jake, how's it going?"

"How's it going with _you_?" He returned the hug before stepping back and taking her in. "I notice a lack of a MegaMan glued to your face? I guess the boys in school stopped picking on you."

"I wouldn't say that," Ashley said mysteriously, lightly shaking her head. "They don't pick on her much anymore but they still give her a lot of attention." She laughed at the concerned expression on Jake's face and reached an arm around his waist. "Relax; I talked to her on the flight over here."

"Yes, a long-winded talk that I'm sure Grandma could've summed up in only a few words," Katy said. "Don't have sex and don't get pregnant, I'm too young to bring her any great-grandchildren." She laughed at the increasing uncomfortable expression on Jake's face. "Hey, be glad that she didn't put that responsibility on you. You're my favorite cousin, Jake, but that's still weird."

"Thanks for that sentiment, Katy." Jake turned to Fletch and Ronan and held out an arm. "You remember Ronan McGuire, and that's Fletch, McFly's manager for everywhere else but the US."

"How come _you _weren't in New York all those years ago?" Katy asked.

"If you've ever spent more than twenty minutes with the guys, you'll know why." Fletch stood up and shook Katy's and Ashley's hands before moving aside so Ronan could do the same. "As you can see, the guys are running late today. But we're glad to have you here. Is it your first time in London?"

"I've been here once before," Ashley replied. "When Peggy and I were trying to establish some connections over here in the UK for her company."

"I haven't been anywhere cool," Katy said bluntly. "So lame."

Jake laughed once more. It was good to have a little piece of home with him in what was now his home away from home. When he told Ashley that for a while he would be going back and forth from New York to London to work with the band as they still really wanted him around, she had been supportive as he could ever want her to be. They had already had a bit of a long distance relationship as it was, considering the trips Ashley would take out of town working as Peggy's partner. Katy had been a bit harder to convince it would be a good move for him; he and their grandmother had basically raised her themselves since she was young and while their Grandmother had worked as many hours as he did, she was alone a lot. She begged to him to stay at first, but after he told her everything his job would entail, she was excited for him to go. (Though was understandably still bummed).

Knowing she was considered 'weird' as she was growing up and didn't have a lot of friends, Jake fulfilled a lot of different roles for her, but knowing she had managed to grow up into a beautiful and well-adjusted young woman made him proud.

"That's what happens when you're a student, Katy, you don't get many opportunities to travel places," Jake reminded her. He reached out his free arm and placed it around her shoulders, hugging her to his side. "So how does it feel to be a junior at NYU?"

"That I could've gone on a trip to Costa Rica instead of constantly gloomy and cold London." She lifted her hand towards Fletch in an apologetic manner. "No offense," she said quickly.

"I take offense to that," Fletch piped up.

"Don't worry Fletch, once Peggy and I manage to open up the office in London we'll be sure to hire you as our consultant to show people that there's more to London than rain and soggy fish and chips," Ashley reassured him.

"Then you certainly don't understand that the soggier the chips, the better," Fletch said. He tilted his head back and glanced at the ceiling as the door shot open so hard the door handle gouged a hole in the wall behind it, and Dougie lead the way into the room with McFly and the DarkElements coming behind them, talking and laughing loudly. "You're late!" Fletch's voice managed to overpower the voices of the band members.

"We know, Fletch, but we actually left on time this time," Sydney quickly defended himself. "There was a lot of traffic and then we had to go a different way and the—"

"And _then _we were stopped because there was a couple that were doing some things they shouldn't have been doing in a car and people had stopped to watch and then the police came and it took a while for the couple to be arrested," Danny explained.

"And he got pictures," Tom said.

"And I got pictures!" Danny repeated, brandishing his phone, eyebrows rapidly moving up and down.

"We're sorry we're late," Noah repeated the apology. He laughed quietly. "But even you would've found this to be really funny."

"I'm sure it'll be hysterical if you weren't twenty minutes late to the press conference we have set up for you." Ronan pushed himself out of the chair and walked over to Sydney, placing his hands on his shoulders and turned him around. "Now, let's get out there before people start to leave. If we're going to announce this great tour you're going on and the album you're going to drop, it might be better if you all were the ones that did it and not me."

"It's their tour, their album, if anything we're just here to look good," Patrick commented with his famous lopsided smile. His eyes then shifted to Jake and he spotted Ashley and Katy. His eyebrows rose in interest as he stood up straight.

"Don't even think about it," Jake interrupted. He reached out and placed his hand over Patrick's face before pushing him backwards and towards the door. With Fletch at his side he ushered the bands out of the room. "We don't have time for hellos or goodbyes. Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Jake let out a long sigh as he followed the bands out to the front of the conference room. Ashley fell into step beside him and looped her arm through his. "Jake, you need to relax," she said to him.

"I haven't been able to relax in a long time, Ash," he said to her. "But I like being busy. It's better than being back in New York and constantly running around to find someone that's going to sign these guys. Now I'm constantly doing paperwork and setting things up for appearances. I have to admit, though that it was really disappointing they didn't do so well over here at the time they debuted, but Ronan and I have been talking about doing a couple of clubs to gather interest and see how well they'd do if they tried again."

"Oh! That sounds fun!" Ashley turned toward Ronan, who yawned again. "Was it hard for you, too? I know your band had a lot of success back in Australia."

"Oh yeah, that was a tough pill to swallow," Ronan agreed, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "And I think I was more disappointed than they were. Coming from their own home country that's so big, similar in the way the US is with their own territories, I thought they would have been received better. They found success in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South America, and Europe, some of the bigger places to break. But compared to the size of the United States, it's relatively easy. Especially with the record sales that goes along with certain certifications. So rather than the success we were used to them having, they only went Gold and that was hard as they essentially had to start all over again. Like McFly had to do.

"I think there are many reason for it happening as the timing was wrong being one of them; at the time they were doing heavy rock music and that wasn't popular or listened to a lot within that music space. Their image didn't work as it had back in Australia and that was a big part that hurt them more than helped them as we had originally thought." He shrugged. "Now that they're taking the reins more in their career they're doing well and that's all we can ask for."

"Are you going to be working with any other bands?" Katy asked, walking slightly behind the managers. "Or do you plan to continue focusing your attention on them?"

"I think if I worked with a lot of bands I'd spread myself too thin. When it got to the point that they feel they can do it on their own I might." Ronan lifted his head and gave a small smile.

Jake smiled and nodded back just as they reached the end of the hallway and opened the door to the conference room. Immediately flashes of light erupted enough to potentially induce seizures. Accompanied by the fluttering of shutters and voices immediately erupting with questions as the band members moved to take their seats at the table, Jake was suddenly hit with a wave of anxiety. This had to go well, the announcement, the tour, the surprise they had for the tour, the album that was to be made after it…it _had _to. After Radio:ACTIVE and Above the Noise had been their lowest selling albums, both times because of the way they had decided to release them that they thought was innovative—giving one away with the Daily Mail the other being available only for those that had a SuperCity account—ended up blowing up in their faces.

If there was going to be something to bring McFly back to the popularity they had been before, it was to be now.

With the tenth anniversary tour announcement, the accompanying greatest hits album…the sky was the limit after that.

But only if this was a success.

All of their careers depended on it.

He was an unlucky loser before, he couldn't do it again.

* * *

**A/N: **Again, sorry for the short chapter, I've been getting adjusted to going back to school but at least I've got _something _done. And as I always say, things will pick up. Now that they've announced the tour and the album I can get into rehearsals and them actually being on tour and stuff.

Cheers,

**-Riles**


	15. Chapter 15

**.:Chapter Fifteen:.**

* * *

Tom sighed as he placed his acoustic guitar aside and looked down at the notebook that sat in front of him. There were scratches, crisscrosses, circles, 'x's and check marks festooned around the page that were _supposed _to hold song lyrics but was coming out as nothing but crap. Absolute crap. Maybe he was having a mental block. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before, but the last time it had come around was when he had been working on Wonderland as well as Radio:Active. He assumed by this point it was just something he was always going to go through, but this was starting to get ridiculous.

It was more important to get things down this time, much more important than all of the other songs that had ever been written. If they were going to do something new for the tenth anniversary tour, for ten years as a band and best friends, then it had to be something _really _good. Something memorable. Something that would let the other guys and the fans know that he loved being in McFly and he would continue on with the band as long as possible.

Now if only his brain wanted to cooperate.

"Hey Tom," Sydney said as he walked into the room, a towel draped of his head. He jumped onto the end of Tom's bed, jostling it enough to send his papers flying to the ground like confetti. "Woops."

"It's alright; I wasn't getting much done anyway." Tom carefully set his guitar aside and brought a leg up, resting his arm around his knee. "I seem to be going through some sort of a mental block as it were. Which is just as well, it was bound to happen sometime, yeah?" He looked Sydney up and down. "Did you just come back from the gym?"

"Yeah, Harry said he's going to get back at you for not showing up," Sydney said. His eyes flashed with mischief as he pulled his towel off his head, damp hair hanging in his face. "I think he said something along the lines of one hundred push-ups."

Tom groaned loudly. Harry knew that the one exercise he hated to do was push-ups. Not only did he not have a lot of upper body strength, but his band mates liked to point it out as much as possible. And considering how much Harry did last minute work-outs before they went on stage, it was more often than he would have ever liked.

"Yeah, well, he'll have to get over it because I was doing something kind of important." He motioned to the notebook that sat on his bed and Sydney frowned as he leaned over to see it. Then he sat back and picked up Tom's guitar, placing it on his lap and playing a quick opening to a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. "At least I'm thinking about the future of the band, I want to make sure this tour is the best one we go on."

"Tom, I reckon you say that every bloody time you _have _a tour and it ends up being one of the best things you've ever done," Sydney pointed out. He leaned back against the footboard. "Honestly, I think you get too worried about what other people think, mate." Tom opened his mouth to protest and the fifteen year old held up his hand, starting to count off on his fingers. "You freak out whenever you're sharing lyrics or a melody of a song with the rest of us, you freak out whenever you put out a new single or album no matter how much the fans usually like it, you freak out whenever we start working on a tour. Last I checked, mate, this was supposed to be fun."

Now Tom gave him a 'duh' look; there was no way his worries were just upon him. "You can't tell me that you don't get nervous about your band."

Something flashed across Sydney's face that Tom couldn't quite place. Then Sydney pressed his lips together hard enough so that his dimples appeared in his cheeks. Finally he shrugged, a pleasant expression coming back upon his face once more. "I guess," he finally said. "But it's not anything that I'm allowing to take over my life. You've been sitting up here working on stuff ever since we came back from announcing the tour."

"I just want things to be great for this tour."

"So do we, or else we wouldn't be helping you." Now Sydney grinned. "We could leave you up there on stage with no help, to do nothing but soil your pants."

Tom rolled his eyes. It was only a matter of time that people brought up his ill-fated performance of Oliver when he was a kid. He picked up his notebook and slapped the youngest Jackson over the head with it before tossing it aside once more. Sydney was right about one thing, if he didn't take a break soon, he wasn't sure what he would do. The song was starting to drive him crazy and dwelling on it even further was just going to infuriate him even more.

"I'll have you know that we have soiled our pants many times on stage." Tom got up from his bed and started to leave the room, suddenly having to brace himself against the doorframe when he felt a heavy weight slam onto his back. "You know, I think I liked it better when you were young and shy," he commented, causing Sydney to laugh. He remembered first meeting the young boy in New York and tried hard to get him to open up, always having a way with kids that he even he didn't understand. It quickly made it so that he and the young boy were arguably the closest out of all of their friends due to their music talent alone.

Tom went down the two flights of stairs until he made it to the living room, where he found his friends spread out around the living room with guitars, drum sticks, and notebooks spread around them, though their attention was all turned towards the TV. Taking a closer look, Tom then noticed Matt appeared to be grimacing every few seconds and he looked closer at the TV screen to see Matt's season of I'm a Celebrity was Being Shown, causing Tom to grin. He had remembered watching the season himself, rooting for his old mate to win at all costs. But having to watch him eat all of those disgusting grubs and body parts as the last bush tucker trial and he was cringing as hard as the ex-Busted bassist was.

"Wait a minute," Dougie said as he waved a hand in the air, lying on the floor. "You said that the mealworms tasted like pus." He grinned as Noah and Riley made retching sounds and moved to cover their mouths with their hands. "How do you know what pus tastes like?" The retching sound became even louder as Matt shrugged. No matter how many horrifying memories of those days flashed through his head, he managed to keep a grin on his face.

"I don't know, man," he said. "It was like, what you'd expect pus from a boil to taste like."

"Ugh! Stop!" Riley shouted, slapping her hands over her ears. "I swear I'm going to puke. I can barely even watch it, whose idea was this?"

Tom caught James's eye and knew then that it was James's idea. Then again, if there was anything they could do to make fun of each other on a daily basis, they would jump on it. Every now and then Tom would remind Danny about the home video of him and his sister Vicky playing a plastic tennis racket as a saxophone and a plastic guitar as if they were putting on a concert, or digging up the video footage of the Jacksons the time they had all managed to—like a domino effect—trip and fall onstage during one of their first big performances.

Not that there weren't occurrences where he could have it thrown back in his face—many of the first interviews that he, Dougie, Danny, and Harry had done caused him to reveal some of his more embarrassing secrets and stories for the whole world to see.

"Oh come on, I'm reliving the memories of a great time," Matt declared.

"Sure, if being placed in an Australian jungle and being starved to death until you're eliminated is a great time." Rhuben announced her arrival as she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, holding onto a plate and a glass of orange juice. She walked over to Tom. "Here, Tommy."

"Oh, I already ate," Tom said, though he accepted the glass of orange juice. "While you guys were at the gym. Cheers, though." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek seconds before Patrick popped up and took the plate of food and dropped back onto the couch. He laughed as Noah immediately leaned over the plate and the two hoovered it up quicker than he could blink.

"Right," Rhuben nodded slowly, trying to suppress her smile. "Speaking of which, Harry has already deemed that he's going to get revenge on you for missing the workout this morning."

"Speaking of, where is he?" Sydney piped up, still holding onto Tom's back. "I wanted to see Tom get his butt kicked."

"Cheers, mate." Tom dropped Sydney to the floor and he raced over to his brothers to help polish off the breakfast plate. He placed his free hand on his hip and turned back to Rhuben. "Really, where'd they go? We have a lot of work we need to do." He took a long sip of orange juice, nearly finishing the glass in one gulp.

"Danny had a dentist appointment and Harry went with him just in case he needed to get laughing gas or something. They should be back soon." As soon as the last word came out of her mouth, the front door opened behind them and Harry and Danny came through the door. "Speak of the devil."

"Aww, I know you missed me, love," Danny declared as he walked—and half stumbled—over to her. He draped an arm around her shoulders and heavily leaned onto her. "You don't need to deny it anymore." His words were slurred and he had a dopey smile on his face. One, that Tom noticed, wasn't far off from the smile he usually held.

"What happened to him?" Tom asked, turning to Harry who kicked off his shoes and left them by front door. The McFly drummer laughed gleefully, attracting the attention of their friends as he couldn't stop for a few minutes. "Harry."

"Well, as you can see he got the laughing gas," Harry remarked, motioning towards the guitarist as Rhuben helped him over to the couch. He laughed harder at Danny's slurring of, "You can put me to bed, but don't try to take advantage of me."

"I don't think you have any worries there, mate." James laughed and stood over Danny, waving a hand repeatedly in front of his face. Danny laughed and lazily reached up his hands to try and catch James's hand, but couldn't raise his elbows up off the couch more than a few inches.

"He got braces," Harry finally announced. "That's why he's knocked out like that." He crossed his arms. "Maybe we'll finally get some peace and quiet around here." He nodded his head over towards Dougie, who was now kneeling by the couch with James, alternatively waving his hands back and forth in front of the bassists face.

"Not unless you want to go to jail," Sydney remarked, sitting cross-legged on the floor, grinning at the spectacle in front of him. "That would be considered a drug trafficking charge. Especially here in the UK."

"Too bad," Tom remarked.

"Too right," Harry agreed. He cleared his throat. "The dentist says he'll need to have the braces for about a year or so, less if he follows all of the rules the dentist gave."

"You know Danny, the only rules he followed is if it has to do with sport," Matt remarked. He was grinning just as hard as Harry was. "Maybe now one of us will be able to finally beat him at footy."

"Careful, Mattie, your testosterone is showing," Rhuben remarked, taking her place on the couch once more. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to smile cheekily, like a little kid that had received an A and high praise on a test. "It's been a while." His smile faded immediately as Rhuben laughed hysterically.

"Speaking of sport…."

Tom's shoulders immediately went to his ears. A cold chill ran down his spine. He knew it wouldn't take long for Harry to find a way to punish him for missing his workout—it was taken that seriously. The boys had been very out of shape when they first started their band; they ate nothing but takeout pizza and Chinese, drank beer, and smoked cigarettes and marijuana when they got the chance all because of their newfound freedom in their own house. Soon they had gotten a maid that came around the house once a week to clean up and make them special homemade meals and they continued to eat junk. Which—as Tom knew now—was the biggest factor in his weight gain and being dubbed the 'fat one' of the band, when he wasn't being mistaken for Tom Felton.

Then Harry had quickly fallen into the fitness route, which coincidentally came at the same time of magazines naming him one of the fittest band members as well as being photographed with his muscles in mind specifically. Not to say that he didn't still drink beer now as much as he did then, but that he was more serious about his health. It went along with the band to the point they now had a personal trainer for the times they went to the gym. So Tom knew he didn't just waste Harry's time, than wasting the trainer's as well.

"Yeah…about that…" Tom reached up a hand and ran it through his hair, trying to come up with the best excuse. "I was working on a song for our tour and I had this burst of inspiration that I couldn't pass up—"

Gently shaking his head, Harry reached out a hand and placed it on Tom's shoulder. It was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but Tom felt nothing but a continuous chill come down his spine, knowing that he was about to be punished. "You know the rules, Tommy." He rubbed his hands together, moving his eyes to the ceiling as he thought about the best form of cruel and unusual punishment.

_At least he's getting some sort of entertainment out of this, _Tom thought with a sigh. He should've seen his coming.

"Now, what should we have him do this time?" The question was announced to the rest of the room.

"One hundred push-ups!" Patrick declared.

"Patrick!" Tom cried in dismay, glaring at him for giving Harry the idea of the _last _thing he would want to do.

"With James sitting on his back!" Noah added.

"Thanks guys, it's nice to know who your friends are." Shaking his head, Tom got down on the floor to get into position for the push-ups. He couldn't help but laugh with his friends as they moved around him to watch. "Why couldn't you do something like…tell me to streak the neighborhood."

"Oh, we're going to do that, too," Dougie declared. "Anything to have you even more embarrassed about your little willy than you already are." Tom clenched his hand into a fist and shot it out, punching Dougie in the arm as hard as he could, laughter erupting around them once more.

"At least let me get a few push-ups in before James gets on top of me," Tom said. He turned his gaze to the floor, shaking his head and giggling at the absurdity of the situation. He spread his hands shoulder length and adjusted his feet then lowered down to the floor and back up with a cry of 'one'. Then he did another and another and another. It wasn't so hard; he may exaggerate a little when he said he didn't have any upper body strength. Compared to Harry, _no one _had any upper body strength.

Tom managed to make it to his fiftieth push-up before he felt James jumped onto his back as if he was riding a horse. The Busted guitarist even went as far as to slap Tom on the ass repeatedly to get the added effect of it.

"I swear to God, you're so going to pay once I'm done with this," Tom declared as he felt another stinging slap against his jean covered skin. "You _and _Harry."

"You're the one that didn't go to the gym, Tom, it's your own fault," Harry said from above him, as if he was a scolding teacher. All of a sudden Tom felt as if he was in school again, having had missed school and coursework due to an audition, and was punished having to stay after and catch up on his work. Tom was given a bit of a reprieve as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

Starting to collapse to the floor, Tom let out a sigh of relief, but found himself egged on by the group surrounding him. "You're not done yet, Tom," Noah said with a bright smile. "You still have about twenty more to go."

"I liked you better when you didn't talk," Tom said, causing the DarkElements' drummer to laugh, not insulted by the remark in the slightest. He gritted his teeth and tried to do another pushup, but felt his arms starting to wobble, turning to jelly. All of a sudden he felt a surge of anger rush through his chest and he gritted his teeth together, sure to be making an ugly face.

What was the big deal?

So he missed a workout, it wasn't like it was the end of the world? He had seen Danny, Dougie, and even Harry himself miss ones because of their own reasons and they hadn't been ridiculed like that. _Unless he's jealous, _Tom thought to himself as he forced himself to finish. _Jealous that I can do so much work for our band and all he can attribute is lifting heavy pieces of metal._

All of a sudden he heard familiar voices heading his way. His anger surged even further and he popped himself to his knees, knocking James off of his back. "Get off me!" He snapped, down at James. "This is stupid!"

James, who was still laughing, rolled onto his side and gazed up at him. "Relax, Tom, we're only kidding around."

"Well, it's not funny!"

"What going on?" Gen's voice sounded behind him. Tom whirled around to find Harry, Gen and Jacqui standing at the threshold to the room, all looking at him with surprised eyes. They must have seen him snap at his friends. All of a sudden he felt the anger wash out of him and his shoulders slumped.

"Nothing," he finally said, running a hand through his hair once more. "We were just messing around. Things got a bit carried away." He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What?" Jacqui grinned, always one that tried to keep the tension down and the spirits up. "You're not happy to see us? Thanks Tom, that means a lot." She and Gen laughed quietly as Tom's cheeks enflamed and he immediately mentally cursed at himself.

"It's not that, it's good to see you…" he trailed off as he caught Gen's gaze and she smiled back at him. Which sent a multitude of questions through his hair. What did it mean? It was just a smile, right? She smiled a lot and it didn't necessarily mean he was thinking the same thing he was. She was always mysterious in that way, where he didn't quite know what she was thinking until she came out and said it. When they first started dating all those years ago, he hadn't thought that his feelings would be returned until she had asked him out.

Even then it took him another ten minutes until he understood what she was doing.

That didn't necessarily mean she still had feelings for him like he had for her.

"It's good to see you, too," she replied. "And to answer your question as to why we're here, we were invited over if that's okay."

"No. I mean. Yes, it's fine." Tom closed his eyes for a few moments. "Do either of you want something to eat or drink."

"No thank you, we ate before we left." Tom nodded and stepped aside so that the girls could enter the room, calming things down once more. As calm as Tom could get throughout the whole thing. Annoyance surged through his chest one more; one of the things he hated the most was being purposefully embarrassed in front of other people.

And he had Harry to blame for that.

"Have you guys figured out anything else about your tour yet?" Jacqui asked as she sat down on the couch, pulling her legs up beneath her. "It's coming up pretty quickly isn't it?"

"We'll hear about the specific dates and where we're going, soon," James replied. "Fletch, Tommy, Jake, and Ronan have to figure out some of the places that want to have us the most. I think we may be going to South America again, maybe even a few shows back in New York, but we don't know for sure."

"You're invited to come along, of course," Patrick added, motioning to the two girls. "You don't even have to take your jobs back this time; you can come as our guests." Tom smiled a little as he moved to sit in an armchair in the corner of the room. When they had been on tour in New York, as well as being guests on the tour because of their friendship, Gen and Jacqui had worked for the DarkElements a little bit as they had gone along with them as sort of personal assistants to the band.

"Of course we're going to go," Gen said as if it were a ridiculous question. "This is a special tour for the guys and it's great that you're participating in it as well." She then motioned to Matt and James. "And being able to see Busted back together again, is something that I'm sure will go well with the fans. Though I'm sure you all are trying to keep it as much of a secret from the press as you can."

"Considering people have been asking about it for years, I'd say that's a good bet," Jacqui remarked with a bright smile. "Which is just as exciting because it means the buzz around both bands are bound to increase with the new albums they'd put out with it."

That was certainly true as well, and helped Sydney's earlier claim that Tom was worrying about nothing. They always did receive pleasant responses from their fans, but it wasn't the fans who were the issue, it was the critics. They had decimated their last two albums because of their ways of releasing them and how they had changed their music style. He couldn't have that again, it was a crushing blow. Anyone that said they didn't care what other people thought certainly wasn't in the public eye or in the entertainment industry in any way. Even those that had the most confidence ended up showing their insecurities at one point or another.

It had to have been something that had struck a chord with Matt for he looked at his watch and got to his feet. "Speaking of which, I have to go home for a bit. I told my Mum that I'd go check on her."

"Little Willy Willis is such a mother's boy," James teased.

"At least my mother likes me," Matt shot back, causing the group to laugh again. "I'll meet up with you guys later." He searched the pile of shoes by the door—which Tom knew was very indistinguishable to know which shoes belonged to who—and finally pulled out a pair of boots and slid them onto his feet before taking his car keys and shoving them into his pocket. "As such, I should probably check my flat, I don't know if I remembered to turn the stove off before I left."

"You might want to bring a fire extinguisher with you then," Patrick called back. "We have plenty stocked in the kitchen.

"You have that many fire extinguishers?" Gen's eyebrows rose.

"Have you met us?" Riley asked. "I don't think we've ever been around each other without accidentally setting something on fire at _least _once, yeah?" She laughed with Jacqui and called goodbye to Matt as he left the house. She then turned to Danny and gently poked him in the stomach, causing him to roll onto his side and let out a long breath. Tom hadn't even noticed he had fallen asleep. "I reckon he'll be hungry when he gets up, yeah? He's usually pretty aggro as it is."

"I'll get it," Tom offered as she moved to get up. He quickly climbed out of the chair and went into the kitchen letting out a ragged breath. He hadn't felt his uncomfortable in a long time. Almost robotically, he went around the kitchen, placing eggs, toast with jam, bacon, fried tomatoes, and a spot of fresh fruit on a plate. His stomach growled as he gazed at the plate and he turned away to take the pitcher of orange juice that sat on the counter behind him.

He filled up a glass and quickly downed it before taking the plate back out to the living room and set it on the table in front of Danny. Then he focused his attention as on-screen Matt completed his bush tucker trial and received a bottle of beer from Ant and Dec for finishing it.

If Matt could sit in the jungle for weeks at a time and eat some of the dodgiest grubs the world had to offer, then he could deal with his problems.

* * *

**A/N: **Getting closer to tour starting and there's much more drama to come along for everyone as it approaches. There are already some tempers flaring. I'll update again soon.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	16. Chapter 16

**.:Chapter Sixteen:.**

* * *

Matt walked through the door of the restaurant and was surprised to find his jacket whisked away from him before he could even blink. Then he was directed towards a hostess stand and opened his mouth to introduce himself and explain whom he was meeting, but the no-nonsense looking woman lifted her head from her appointment book and looked him up and down with disdain.

"Matt Willis, I presume?" She asked him.

"Uh, yeah, I'm here to—"

"—Follow me," the hostess said primly. She pushed herself away from her stand and led Matt through the maze of wealthy looking diners. He felt more than out of place once he noticed the even wealthier looking clientele seated around the tables. His eyebrows rose once he spotted Charlie sitting at a table, slouched in his seat and stretching his long legs out so that they fit underneath the table. "Here's your dinner companion. Your waiter will be here in a few moments. Feel free to look over the menu."

Matt sat down in his seat and turned back towards Charlie, who managed to successfully hide his smile behind his hands. "Mate, _why _did you want to meet at a place like this? That woman already hates me and I think she hates her own life a tiny bit more than that."

"The look on your face is enough," Charlie pointed out, finally lowering his hands.

"You know I've never been comfortable in places like this," Matt said as if Charlie didn't say anything.

Then again, growing up the way he did not even some of the more normal restaurants were good for him. He closed his eyes, thinking about the meeting he had with his mother before going to meet with Charlie. He hadn't realized that she would be so…frail? So sick? As usual she had tried to refuse his help but even with the better apartment that was close to his own place—as well as the band house—and having the best doctors look at her, he couldn't help but constantly wonder.

It was starting to worry him that his mother was even more insistent on him _not _caring for her. He was bound to have to ask for some time off at some point. She always was a stubborn one.

"The food is usually pretty good though," he admitted.

"Well, it should taste better this time around because I'm paying for it," Charlie remarked. He flicked his hair out of his face. "Though I don't know if I should be forcing you to pay considering you were the one that convinced me to come meet you here."

"I know." Matt laced his fingers together. "It's just…after the last meeting we had together and how badly that went downhill, I thought it would be a good idea if we tried talking again. I know Fletch isn't doing anything that would result in you and James being able to sit together without wanting to rip each other's throats out."

Charlie snorted and fell silent as their waitress came to the table and took their orders. Matt leaned over in his seat and watched as the attractive woman walked away from the table and stopped at another one. He grinned and leaned back in his seat, turning his attention back to Charlie, who shook his head.

"I think it's impossible for you to go _anywhere _without hitting on at least one bird," Charlie remarked, taking a long sip of his water.

"I can't help it, it's in my DNA," Matt defended himself. "Anyway, you're changing the subject. If we're going to make this work, you and James need to talk."

"What me and James need is to be sure that we can't ever reach each other," Charlie interrupted. "Or be in the same room together because, as you've said, we're just going to rip each other's throats apart."

"That's because your guys' communication skills suck."

"Yeah, well, that's not the only issue I'm going to have if I go back there," Charlie pointed out. He shrugged. "I don't think a lot of them are going to be happy to see me. Especially after being stuck in the middle and then constantly being asked questions about it in the press." He bobbed his head back and forth. "I'm sure that you got enough of it right after the split."

Now Matt shrugged. Honestly he had enough of it when he was _in _the band. Constant questions from his family and friends, wondering what it was that caused the boys to fall apart so badly. What was it that was making him so unhappy? What was it that was making him turn towards drugs and alcohol so much? Not that they really cared on the last question, no one asked him. No one seemed to notice. No one except his mother and he couldn't let her down like that. It hurt enough to see how frail she was getting when he went to see her, to break her heart because of things he couldn't control. It wasn't that the blamed her, he would never blame her for the choices he made but sometimes he wondered what would have happened if their lives were a bit better off when he was growing up.

"And you know it's just going to bring up more questions and gossip and rumors now," Charlie added. "Especially since there was photographic evidence of me being at the recording studio the same time you guys were there to record your version of McFly's songs." He smiled little. "Which is going great by the way; if you haven't gotten a chance to check the views on YouTube."

"I don't think you realize how much our careers depend on those YouTube views," Matt replied. He let out a long sigh, tilting his head back. "I remember when all we had to do was wait for newspaper reviews and our record sales. Now you have to add in trending topics on Twitter, and Facebook, and views on YouTube and digital downloads. Things were so much easier when we were just starting out." He ran his hands over his face. "And now it is making me realize how old you're getting."

"You've always been old to me, if that makes you feel better," Charlie said, pointing out the age different between him and the eldest member of Busted.

"Cheers, mate." Matt lifted his glass of water and held it up towards Charlie, the two clinking it together. He leaned back as the waitress came back with their food orders and placed them in front of them. Matt flashed her a charming smile, causing her to blush and turn away with a quick look back over her shoulder.

"Mate, either ask her out, take her back to your place, or something or else I'm going to be forced to watch you stare at her ass all day."

"I could stare at yours if you'd like. If that'd make you feel better, Mr. Model." Charlie laughed loudly, breaking the otherwise silent restaurant, bringing Matt's laugher in with it as well. But neither cared about the dirty looks that were brought their way as they continued to laugh, Matt laughing so hard that it brought tears to fall down his cheeks.

"Man, I haven't modeled in years. The last thing I need is to have more people telling me that I'm gay when I'm not," Charlie pointed out. He took a bite of his steak and nodded before licking his lips. "I'm not saying that male models are gay at all," he added quickly. "But that it's the very first insult that usually comes our way. And, of course, there was being seen as a 'teen idol' and being in all of those magazines and stuff when I wanted to be taken seriously."

Matt nodded.

That was the wedge that had slowly driven them apart. While part of him was frustrated that Charlie had let it get to him, as they had all agreed that if one of the members wanted to leave then the band would be over. But there was another part of him that understood it, Charlie was young when he they started the band, still in his teens, a time when it mattered what everyone thought of you. Being in the music industry it did matter what people thought; of their look, their music, themselves in general and if they didn't know how to handle it, then it was difficult. James and Matt had an entertainment background; James had been in Oliver and other stage plays while playing small shows for family and friends and others as much as he could. Matt had been placed into the Sylvia Young Theatre School where he performed in plays and productions, things that set him up for his later career.

Charlie didn't have that luxury at that school other than the high standards of music they were to have; where he excelled at the drums. He didn't have the performance backgrounds the others did so it was no surprise he took it all very seriously no matter what was said about him.

The two continued to eat in silence, neither one wanting to breach the subject that was floating over their heads. The big, fat elephant in the room that was acknowledged nearly every day by fans, friends, and the entire music industry alike. Finally, Charlie pushed his empty plate away from him and dropped his napkin over it.

"So say that I do come back," he said. "Is everyone going to be happy about it?"

_Is James going to be happy? _Matt thought. _Probably not. Is Danny going to be happy…that's a special case, but professionally I think he'll be okay. Rhuben will not be happy. But everyone else I think will be okay. _And Matt explained as much, also adding that if there was a fight to break out at the house he would sit back and watch with a bowl of popcorn before doing anything to stop it.

"I figured as much," Charlie said.

* * *

"Why do you think he has this eyes covered?" Patrick mused, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. He tilted his head to the side before blowing his bands out of his face. "My vote is that he's hung over, yeah?"

"I don't think so," Rhuben remarked, leaning over her seat and glancing out the tinted window. "When he's hung over he's practically falling out of his chair. Right now he seems pretty grounded." Leaning back, she pulled her hair back behind her ear and let out a low sigh. "Sort of wish Ronan came with us."

"He said he has a lot of calls to make and emails to send out today," Noah reminded her. He smiled a little as he jokingly added, "the coward."

"He's not the only one. Considering we're still in the van." Sydney's serious remarked, causing the siblings to fall silent.

Riley, who sat in the driver's seat of the van, her arm resting over the steering wheel didn't comment but continued to stare out the window with her brothers and sister. The five had arrived at the restaurant Robert had invited them to for lunch, parking across the street, about five minutes before and continued to sit and watch the man that had managed to equally ruin and save their lives on more than one occasion.

Sydney then leaned forward from the backseat of the car and pulled up the locking mechanism so that the car unlocked. The sound caused the others to jump, as if a gun had gone off right beside them. "Well, let's get this over with. See what he wants." He rolled over the backseat, landing in Patrick's and Noah's laps and moved towards the door. He laughed as the twin boys scooted out of the car, carrying their youngest brother the entire way.

Leaving the driver's and passenger seat, Riley and Rhuben lead the way across the street, yelling at Patrick and Noah as they raced through a short break in traffic, lifting Sydney over their heads as they did so, then followed after them. Robert looked up as they approached and sat up in his seat, crossing his legs at the knee.

"I ordered appetizers for you guys if that's alright," he said as they sat down around him. "If it helps I still remember what you guys prefer to have at restaurants." He smiled a little, trying to break the tension. "I brought you to enough of them to know that you usually order the same thing."

"That's because all of the stuff that's expensive tastes like crap," Patrick said, his nose wrinkling as he looked over the menu in front of him. "How can something that costs so much taste like paper? You'd think they'd have enough money to pay for some seasoning, yeah?"

Robert laughed, causing the Jacksons' eyebrows to rise. It was a foreign sound. Not that there weren't good times with Robert. There had been a few times where he had shown what it was to be a father. He had dropped them off at school, picked them up when he needed to, went to some of their performances and productions during school. There were even times where he would help them with their homework when his patience was strong and he didn't have a drop of liquor in him. But then there would be something he'd do that would cause it to come crashing back down quite literally.

Almost as soon as alcohol was in his system he would knock something over in the rage of whatever had managed to bother him, seconds before he would go after the five children that had been placed in his care. There were hardly any days that went by without screams of fear or pain, rapid footsteps that raced around the house as they frantically tried to find a place to hide. But it couldn't be denied there were moments and times where he was as nice as the next guy that came around. Especially when he didn't drink, trying to make things better before it all spiraled once more.

"So how are things going with you?" Riley asked, lacing her fingers together and resting her elbows on the table. She leveled him with a hard stare. "Are things at work going well? We know Ronan had been putting you to work a lot lately."

"It's better to keep busy," Robert said, leaning back in his seat. "That way I don't have too much time to myself."

"Is Matt working you too hard?" Rhuben asked. She ran her hands along the legs of her jeans. "Recruiting can be hard because you're traveling all the time, all over to see if there's a lead for someone to be brought into the record company." She pulled her hair behind her ears as she remembered how their band had started. If 'Matt from Recruiting', as she and her siblings had always called him, hadn't seen them performing one day and told Ronan to go to the specific mall they were in to have lunch, then they wouldn't have been able to meet him and things snowball to the point that they wouldn't have been having the conversation with Robert at that exact moment.

She liked to think that, anyway.

"Like I said, the more I work, the better I get," Robert said. He ran a hand through his hair and made a show of picking up his glass that was filled with a dark liquid. He raised the glass to his lips and the Jacksons all immediately stiffened, their eyes locked directly on the beverage. "It's tea," he said quickly, noticing their stares. "Don't worry. I haven't had a drink in a long time."

"How long?" Noah practically barked the question, causing Robert's eyebrows to rise. It was a welcome change from his normally quiet nature. The fingers on his right hand tapped on the table top, almost as a nervous tick.

"Almost six years sober," Robert said. Patrick's eyebrows rose and he exchanged a look with Riley, as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. It was a great feat, however there was no way he had been _completely _sober within that time. Her eyes shifted back towards Robert and he nodded, spreading his hands. "Right, not one hundred percent. As a matter of a fact unless the person can't function at all when drinking, I don't feel the right move is to go completely cold turkey."

Bobbing his head back and forth, Sydney spun a fork around his finger, watching as it scratched against the table. "Makes sense, the danger from withdrawals is worse than being an alcoholic in the first place," Sydney said under his breath. "So at least you're doing something right." His eyes lit up as his plate of food was placed in front of him, boasting a pile of onion rings.

For the next half hour or so they had a normal conversation that would have seemed like acquaintances coming together rather than someone that used to be a pseudo father-figure to them. They even ended up laughing every now and then, which proved that with the time that had passed by when Robert had gone to jail, lost custody, paid a hefty amount of fines, and continued his alcoholic's anonymous meetings as well as anger management classes had helped a little. Not that there wasn't still a thin haze of held-back terror that didn't cover them, waiting for the moment that he lost his temper and would lean over to strike them, or give them a verbal beat down that'd leave them quivering in fear.

"Was there something else you wanted to say?" Riley asked slowly, her eyelids lowering. Robert looked at her curiously and she raised an eyebrow before resting her chin in her hand, gently tapping her fingertips against her lips. As he continued to look at her she let out a grunting sigh, dropping her hand as her eyes flashed. "Come off it, we've known you long enough to fucking know when you want something. Now what is it?"

"Does it have to do with us?" Rhuben asked. "Directly, I mean. I know you're not a big enough boofhead to ruin this second chance we've given you." She shook her head. "It took us a long time to be able to do that."

Robert nodded, nervously taking another drink of his tea. It was his fourth one since having arrived. Must be his replacement for alcohol. "Right, I understand that. But this is something that's really important that I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you all could help me." He looked each of the Jacksons in the eye, before continuing. "Despite having ruined my first chance…I've wanted nothing in my life other than having a family; to have kids of my own."

Sydney's eyes widened.

"And because the courts have seen how well I've been progressing through everything, I might have the chance to foster someone. But…" he trailed off for a moment. "I won't be able to unless I have it on good authority that I'm fit to be a foster again."

Noah burst out into hysterical, humorless laughter. "Aha! That's so funny! You actually think we'll help you put a new punching bag within your grasp." He abruptly stopped his laughter and looked Robert in the eye. "Do you think we're stupid?"

"I mean, we've been punched in the head so many times it could be questionable, but we're not _that _dumb," Patrick added, causing Sydney to snort and start laughing as Riley and Rhuben smiled. The youngest Jackson opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Patrick held up a hand, turning a warning finger towards him. "Don't even think about it, Little Man."

Sydney smiled and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his seat.

"I'm not saying you have to do it, I'm just asking," Robert said calmly. "At least listen. Please. You know I've changed. You can see that. I haven't lost my temper, I have a steady job, and I haven't had a drink in a long time. I'm taking the steps I need to take to get where I need to go." He looked at his watch and ran a hand through his hair. "I have a meeting I have to get to. But please at least think about it, I'll mention it to Ronan as well so that it won't blindside him as I'm sure you're going to tell him as well. Thank you for seeing me today."

The Jacksons waited until he was gone before turning towards each other, leaning into each other as if in a huddle. "So what do you think?" Sydney asked. "He seemed sincere to me."

"It doesn't matter what we think, honestly," Riley pointed out. She let out a long sigh, running a hand through her hair. "Because our word probably won't do much for his case after seeing evidence of what he's been through over the past six years. For a while he'll probably have CPS coming watching him, yeah? Besides I don't think we can honestly say that he didn't have a reason."

"You can't say you're justifying his abusing us because he was abused," Noah said slowly. "Because we didn't turn out like him."

"But we could have, yeah?" Riley said, causing her siblings to nod.

"She's not saying that we _should _go in and make it that he can have a kid, just that we can't one hundred percent say that he didn't already have a chip on his shoulder," Rhuben added, coming to her sister's aid. The twin girls looked at each other for a moment. "We of all people know that PTSD from abuse, in any form, can haunt someone for the rest of their lives, but it's also something that can be worked through."

Patrick shook his head. "Whatever. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's just go."

They got back into the van and drove back to the band house, walking inside in time to see Tom grab a cushion off of the couch and whack Danny in the face with it, causing him to flop back onto the floor with a loud laugh. "I already told you, Danny! That stage design won't work, it will never work, and we're not going to do it!"

"But it's a good idea," Danny defended himself.

"So are nude beaches but you don't see them _everywhere _do you?" Harry pointed out.

"Too bad," Dougie remarked, causing them to laugh again. He looked up and waved his arms wildly when he heard the front door close. "Hey, guys! Come here and tell Tom that he's can't be a vicious dictator over the stage design. He's going on a rampage."

"I'm not a dictator, I'm right!"

Patrick, Noah, and Sydney immediately went over to help the guys, clearly wanting to put their conversation with Robert behind them. Riley and Rhuben started to follow them but turned when the front door opened once more and Matt slipped inside. "Hey," the girls greeted him in unison. "How's your Mum doing?"

"As good as can be expected," he replied. He roughed his hands over his face before crossing his arms. "She wants me to bring you guys next time."

"Sounds like a plan," Riley agreed after exchanging a nod with Rhuben.

"Cool, it's a date," Matt said to her then went over to Rhuben. Rhuben looked up at him curiously as he gave her a kiss on the side of the head, but accepted it and his hug anyway. "What was that for?" She asked.

"To be sure you don't hate me," he said.

"Why would I hate you?" Her eyes then shifted behind him at the sound of the front door closing and her face became blank as her eyes landed on Charlie. He looked back at her, gently lifting his chin in greeting.

"Sim!" Riley cried with a smile. When she noticed him, Matt, and Rhuben all turning her way she dropped her smile and took a step back, holding up her hands. "Sorry." She backed up and sat down on the stairs, resting her arms over her legs. But her cry of surprise brought the others to see what was going on, all stopping when they spotted Charlie.

"What are you doing here?" James practically spat.

"I'm here to help," he finally said.

There was a beat of silence.

"Meaning?" Tom pressed.

"Meaning," Charlie said then trailed off. He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I'll go on tour with you guys."

* * *

**A/N: **Geez, sixteen chapters in, almost a year working on this story (probably the slowest I've ever worked on one) and I'm just now getting to the point. Oh well, I'm still having fun with it.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	17. Chapter 17

**.:Chapter Seventeen:.**

* * *

"Do you have everything packed yet?"

Gen blew her hair out of her face as she turned towards Jacqui, who took a few strides into the room and flopped onto her bed. Laughing lightly, Gen reached out and swatted her friend on the arm before looking down into her open suitcase that was filled to the brim with nearly every piece of clothing from her apartment and yet she felt that she was forgetting something.

She had all of her course work that would be due while she was gone, after speaking t o her professors to get the chance to work abroad. Being on the road with her friends, as she knew from having experienced it before, took a long time. Considering this time around they were projected to travel through the UK, playing multiple shoes in places, as well as going to Japan, and spending time in South America and Australia, the tour was going to take a pretty good chunk of time. She was excited to go and hang out with her friends, enjoying the tour as a way to celebrate their ten years of friendship and pursuing their dreams rather than working at the same time as she had done before.

She was excited…but there was also something holding her back that she hadn't spoken about before, nor did she think it was going to be as big of an issue that she thought it would be. And as Jacqui continued to lounge on her bed, she contemplated talking about it but knew not many people would understand. As it was she still wasn't sure if she understood it herself.

"I think so," she said slowly. "But you know what happens on these tours, someone always forgets something, something gets lost…I feel like I'm forgetting something."

"What could you possibly be forgetting?" Jacqui's eyes went on a quick swivel around the room. "You've packed up nearly everything in the apartment. I'm surprised you didn't fit the coffee machine in there as well." She rested her chin in her hands. "_I _think you're projecting your worries about the tour not going well."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you always do. Because you always care so much about everyone else." Jacqui pushed her hair back out of her face. "Because Charlie is back to help the others and you don't know how long it's going to take until it all blows up." Gen raised her eyebrows. "Well, let's see; Tom was kicked out of Busted because of Charlie being put into it, Danny lost Rhuben to Charlie, if you want to think of it that way though no girl is ever a prize to be won or a possession, Matt was put in the middle of the arguments that James and Charlie got into, and of course there's James and Charlie. There's the very real potential of something going wrong with Charlie around, and you just want everyone to be happy."

"Is there a problem with that?" Reaching out, Gen flipped closed the top of her suitcase and zipped it shut. She lifted it up and struggled in lowering it to the floor. "This is supposed to be a celebration for the guys and I don't want there to be anything that ruins that."

Jacqui stared at Gen for a long moment, eyes narrowing. The silence between them stretched out and Gen was sure her friend was doing her best to try and get her to crack. Unfortunately—or fortunately as the case was—she had become very in tune with hidden meanings behind the ways people looked at her and did her best to keep her anxiety from filling her face. Gen turned away and grabbed onto the handle of her suitcase, rolling it out of her room and to the main area of the apartment. Other bags were already stacked in the middle of the room; holding the clothes that were to last for the long months the tour would last, toiletries, makeup, hair care products, and whatever else it was they were going to need.

"Don't think that leaving the room is going to keep you from talking," Jacqui said. There was a small smile on her face but her eyes held the seriousness of the conversation. She reached out her hand and placed it on Gen's shoulder. "You know whatever it is; you can talk to me about it. I don't was to push you into anything, but I'm here."

"I know," Gen agreed. "Thanks for the offer. It really does help but…I just…"

"Don't worry about it." Jacqui reached out and the girl hugged her friend. Gen hugged her back, closing her eyes and held onto her tightly. She had no idea how much it truly was helping her to know she was there. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door and Jacqui quickly pulled her head back. "IT'S OPEN!"

Gen let out a low shriek, most of the sound reaching her ear before laughing, pressing her hand against the side of her head. At least it turned the attention off her. Turning around, she waved as Riley and Rhuben walked into the apartment, closing the door behind them. "Hey, I thought we were going to get picked up by the bus." She reached out and hugged the two girls as well, already feeling a lot better.

Nodding, Rhuben shoved her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt. "You were, but not only are we running a bit behind, but fans have already figured out where the bus is parked. We can't have them see that Busted are around. Not to mention we don't want them to find out where you live."

"So we opted to get a rental car and come get you guys and meet the bus in a different spot," Riley picked up the explanation. "Especially considering how social media and what not is already blowing up with you guys coming with us as our friends rather than working with us…" she shook her head. "It's crazy how easily they can figure things out. But very impressive." She held up a hand. "Plus we figured it'd be a good way to thank you lot for helping us move into the band house."

"Wait a minute." Gen tilted her head to the side. "We're going to have three bands, us, Jake, Ronan, and Fletch all on one tour bus?"

"That many guys on one tour bus and I have an excuse to look at them all? I have absolutely _no _problem with that," Jacqui declared.

"I didn't think you would." Rhuben laughed. She tucked her strand of purple hair behind her ear. "Actually, Jake, Ronan, and Fletch are getting their own bus because we all know they need their space and their privacy. McFly and Busted are going to share one, and then we have one. So you can stay on ours. Then when it comes to hotel rooms there're suites and everything so you don't have to worry about that space as well."

"Ugh! You really know how to suck the fun out of everything," Jacqui complained.

"I never said that you actually had to _sleep _wherever you're assigned, I just said it was what was where we were going to start out. Other than that, what you do is your own business. Though I would not be opposed to hear about it later, yeah?"

The girls laughed again and Gen waved her hand over the suitcases that sat in the middle of the room. "This is everything we need so I guess we're all ready to go. Thanks for the help."

"No worries," Riley said in a tone that showed they truly didn't mind. She turned away for a moment then looked back at her friend. She reached out a hand and pulled her aside as Jacqui and Rhuben started to roll bags out of the room. "Something wrong, Gentle? You look like something's on your mind."

Gen sighed. She really had to work on being as convincing as she wanted to look. "I was just wondering how things are going to be with Charlie around. Not just for Busted, I mean."

"You mean the whole exes thing?" Riley nodded. "As much as I hated the way things happened, I don't hate Charlie. I mean, she's my sister and I'm always on her side and I'm always going to be a bit frustrated with the way things turned out, but I think this may be a good thing." She shrugged again. "I'm happy to see him."

"So am I," Gen agreed. "And I think, deep down everyone is glad to see him again and the fans are going to be excited to know that he's helping out McFly with their tenth anniversary. I just don't want things to blow up and take away from what we're doing here."

"No worries. I get that. However if that were the case, I don't think any of us would have ended up here." And Gen knew from the serious turn Riley's tone had taken that she wasn't talking about Charlie's presence anymore and decided not to push the subject. She knew what would happen if the change in topic was turned towards her instead. Though she hadn't witnessed Riley's direct temper in a long time, she knew it was down there and prodding and prying when she wasn't ready to talk was not going to help. "Don't look at me like that."

Startled, Gen laughed lightly. "Like what?"

"Like you want to talk to me but you don't want to because you just want to keep the peace," Riley said. "I love you, but sometimes you can be very hard to say 'no' to." She squeezed Gen's hand. "Trust me when I say that's a good thing."

"That's good to know. Come on. I don't want to be late." Gen turned back towards Rhuben and Jacqui and found the Australian girl squatting over a bag, peering inside it with an incredulous look on her face.

"Is this bag entirely filled with candy?" She asked, pushing aside as many wrappers as she could. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she continued to look through the plethora of sweets inside. "Are those Ring Pops?"

"Hey, we have to do something other than sit on a tour bus all day going from place to place," Jacqui pointed out. "And Red Bull is disgusting. Everything is funnier when there's a sugar high added into it." She zipped the bag shut. "And you guys are always making fun of me with pixie sticks so I decided to step my game up a little bit."

"With an _entire _bag?"

"You have your hobbies…"

"_Your _hobbies are stalking London for Tom Felton." Then Rhuben grinned. "Not that I blame you for that one." The girls laughed and high-fived. "Speaking of which, how did you manage to get so much time off to be able to come on tour with us? I mean, you're still doing study abroad…" she trailed off as Jacqui pressed her lips together.

Riley sighed lightly. "Jac-Jac, please don't tell me that you dropped out."

"Okay, I won't tell you."

"Boofhead, this was something that you've always wanted to do, you're almost done with your degree. Why would you want to put that on hold? You can come to as many shows in the UK as you want and still finish your schooling."

Placing her hands on her hips, Jacqui nodded. "I know, I know. I'm just putting it on hold for now, I'm still going to finish." She ran a hand through her hair. "Besides, I'm studying vocal performance as my major and what better place to figure those things out than going on tour with some of the biggest bands in the world?"

"She's got a point," Gen said. "Sort of."

"And we're not going to be able to change your mind?" Rhuben asked.

"The last thing we want is for you to be unhappy while you're out there," Riley added.

Jacqui smiled and nodded. "This is what I want. I know what I'm doing. It was my decision to make." She motioned to the bag that sat by her feet. "And besides, I don't know anyone else that would go through his bag of candy faster than the rest of us can and I would rather not have it melt all in there."

"I don't know, if you make it melt you can get a really good prank out of it," Riley said.

Gen sighed, tilting her head back lightly. One thing she could say for sure, there was never a dull moment when they were on tour. It was what she was hoping for, actually. To not have a dull moment, to not have a much time to herself so that she would allow herself to get too wrapped up into her thoughts. It was hard enough trying to dodge the calls that came from her family and friends, constantly wondering how she was doing. But to be reminded about it from her own head, when she had tired her hardest to move on…that was even worse.

The first day of the tenth anniversary tour was that night; they should focus solely on what McFly were doing, what they were going to do, and how much fun they were going to have. There were to be no negative thoughts that entered her head. She was there as a friend, not an employee, this time around she could allow herself to take in the music and the energy that McFly and their best friends would exude throughout the concert hall.

Picking up her last suitcase Gen started towards the door, calling over her shoulder with, "come on, let's go!"

As she stepped outside, she found a bright sky waiting for her. It was the bluest of blues with a few clouds dotting the skyline, the sunlight not being too bright but bright enough so that it spread warmth through her body from the bottoms of her feet to the top of her head.

It was a good sign.

It was just what she needed.

* * *

"Alright guys, you're going to get started in about twenty minutes," Fletch said, clapping his hands together loudly for attention. All eyes within the dressing room turned his way. "Remember that this is the first show of your tenth anniversary show, it's to give back to the fans for allowing you to be here for ten years."

"Is this supposed to be a pep talk or are we being reprimanded for something?" Harry asked from where he sat on the couch, moving his drumsticks in a rhythmic beat along the coffee table that sat in front of him. Of which were already filled with empty cans for energy drinks and half finished beer. "Because it really sounds like we're being made to think we've done something wrong."

Jake, who was standing on the other side of the room looking at a clipboard, looked up warily. "Why? Did you do something? Don't tell me that you broke something and hid it to be found later, again." He shook his head, turning to Ashley who stood at his side, raising a curious eyebrow. "These guys managed to, somehow, completely break a massage table and didn't say anything until I went to go get a massage."

Ashley laughed loudly, moving her red hair out of her face. "Are you sure _you _didn't break it?"

"Yeah, Jake," Katy added teasingly. "Last I checked you were the one that had the long string of bad luck and klutziness. How do we know that your mere presence hasn't broken it?" She popped a pretzel stick into her mouth and grinned at her cousin, chomping down on it as she did so.

"Please don't help them."

"Ha ha!" Dougie laughed loudly, pointing at his manager. "Your girlfriend and your cousin are both turning their back on you!" Jake made a face back at him.

Harry reached out with his drumstick and poked Dougie hard in the ribs. "Don't provoke him, Dougs. You're easily the most expendable one out of us, no one will notice if you're gone." He looked over at Tom and Danny for backup and the two nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, guys, you have twenty minutes before you go on," Fletch broke in. He reached out and took the clipboard that Jake held in his hands. "The DarkElements are going to be performing about eight of their songs to start off the show and that should run about twenty minutes considering the breaks they take to address the audience. Let's hope that there aren't going to be any more issues with the stage design—"

"I'm sorry that I managed to fall over, like, four times," Sydney immediately piped up, throwing his hands into the air. "Who puts a bloody rug in the middle of the stage anyway?"

Tom crossed his arms indignantly. "It dampens the excess sound and adds to the ambiance of our guitars throughout the arena."

"So you _want _me to break my neck and kill myself? Cheers, mate."

"It's a good idea."

"It's a stupid idea," Patrick broke in from the floor, a bass guitar resting on his lap.

"Yeah, well, it's our tour not yours. You don't get a choice." Tom and the rest of his band mates laughed as Patrick lifted his hands and gave him the double finger. Harry grinned and continued to drum along the edge of the table, listening to the rest of the precautions that Fletch gave to them; remember they were to fill up every minute of time or else they would have to pay for time they didn't use as well as going over the limit, to give it their all, to remember they were going to be doing this for months so they had to stay in as good shape as they could, but most importantly to have fun.

That was the part Harry was completely on board with, however with the low level of tension in the room he wasn't sure how much longer it would last. His eyes moved towards the corner of the room where he found James, Matt, and Charlie sitting amongst the band members, though Charlie continued to sit on the outside of the circle the group made, quietly listening to his iPod, resting his cheek in his upraised palm. As glad as he was to see that Charlie was making his way back into something that would more likely benefit them all in the long run, he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

He personally had no beef with Charlie at all and had been upset to hear that the band had broken up but there was a reason it happened. They weren't really a band. They came together to play music and that was all they had done, come together to play music .They didn't get along like successful band mates did, they hadn't learned to trust each other. They didn't become a family. Harry would trust Tom, Harry and Dougie with his life, they were his best friends and his brothers and they had come together to make their own band.

There had been egos and issues at the very, very beginning while he had been auditioning. He had never seen someone so assertive and headstrong than Tom, he had never met someone who was so into getting the most out of life than Danny, and he had never met anyone so shy than Dougie—though now it was hard to get him to be quiet. And all of their personalities managed to mesh together faster than they had anticipated, as if star-crossed lovers in their past lives. It was going to be interesting to see how everything else fared.

"Ashley, Katy, you should get to your seats so you don't miss the start of the show," Fletch said as Harry snapped back to attention. "And because of the potential crowds that are going to come around after the show, we _won't _be doing a runner."

"We won't?" Noah repeated, eyebrows flying up into his fringe. He was twirling a pair of drumsticks around his finer, every now and then tossing it over to Rhuben, who sat across from him, the two practicing part of their gimmick before they went onstage. "But wouldn't we end up getting stuck in the traffic later?"

"Oh, we've had to do that a few times," James said, gently plucking the strings of his acoustic guitar. "You send the buses on ahead and it clears out the fans for a while, while we stay back here. And then the buses come back to get us so that we don't have to worry about being blocked in for hours."

"Exactly right," Fletch agreed. "Besides, we'd like to give you the time to speak with your families before you go off to your other shows." He looked at his watch. "Ten minutes guys, you might want to get started getting ready." With that Jake motioned for Ashley and Katy to follow him out of the room and to their seats.

Harry got to his feet and continued to drum his drumsticks along the back of the couch as he walked around it, going as far as to drum atop Riley's head, who immediately pushed him away, and he went over to a makeup chair. Shoving his drumsticks into the back pockets of his jeans, he stared at his reflection in the mirror, starting to bounce up and down on his toes. He shifted his weight back and forth from foot to foot and then up and down, going as far as to do high-knee jumps. Then he lowered himself to the floor and started to do a series of quick push-ups to push himself even further to getting ready.

That was the way he worked the best; when he had a sort of frenzied energy around him. It made him move faster and give more energy into the beats of the music. But he wasn't just playing to be sure there was a good show, but so that everyone that was on the sides of the stages, high up in the rafters, and that everyone in the back, who couldn't get as close to the stage as they wanted would be able to feel the energy he was giving them.

How could he do that if he wasn't feeling it himself?

Once finished with his pushups he went over to the cooler that sat in the corner of the room and rooted through the tub of ice inside. Finding the neck of a beer bottle he picked it up and inspected it for a moment before twisting open the top and guzzling half of it in one continuous gulp. It burned the back of his throat and he shook his head, allowing it to wash through his body. He turned back to his friends as they stared their pre-show ritual; the McFly boys giving each other multiple fist bumps to make sure that they were connected before going on stage, the DarkElements giving a quick pep-talk to each other before starting to jump around and hollering at the top of their lungs…James, Matt, and Charlie were the only ones that were subdued even though those around them were bouncing off the walls.

James and Matt played a quick game of hacky sack and Charlie continued to sit on the couch, listening to his music. Harry walked over and addressed the three. "Come on, lads! You're about to go on stage after years of being out of the public eye. You should be excited."

"I am," James spoke up. "I'm not sure about the rest of us."

Charlie looked over at James and his eyebrows pressed together. "I don't know why you would think that any of us aren't ready to put in as much into this as you are, mate."

"I'm just saying that we should all be sure to put on a good show for these guys," James said. He held his hands up defensively as Matt shot him a warning look. "Just saying. I wouldn't want to let anyone down."

Charlie muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "fuck off, mate," but didn't say anything otherwise. Already feeling his buzz start to wane, Harry turned his back on Busted and grabbed the half finished beer that sat on the table and finished it. Replacing the bottle he pulled his drumsticks out once more and let out a cheer of approval.

He was ready to go on stage.

* * *

Danny brought his hand up to his cheeks to see if he was still smiling. Oh yes, he certainly was. He didn't think he would ever stop, to be honest; the first show had gone so well. Even though it had ended a half hour ago the crackling energy continued to move through the band's dressing room, filled with their family and friends. Champagne bottles popped open left and right, glasses were filled with water, alcohol, soda, and energy drinks and celebratory cheers and chatter filled the room.

Draping a towel around his neck, Danny sat down on the arm of the chair his sister, Vicky, was sitting in, hoping to get some time to rest before they got on the tour bus and headed to the next show. Though, truthfully, he knew that one they got onto the bus he would not be sleeping for a long time. First show jitters and post-show excitement were the best things about what he did in McFly. He loved to borrow the energy that the fans gave him, take it in, and sent it back to them two-fold.

And it certainly had paid off. Being able to see so many fans that he had seen when they were young now grown up and still supporting him and his friends was the best thing he was able to do. If his life was ever cut short and he died on stage, at least he died happy.

"Gee, little brother you look like you've just won the lottery," Vicky commented, reaching out her hand and grabbed his knee. "You did great tonight, you know. I've never been more proud of you in my entire life. Mum, too." She nodded to the other side of the room where their mother was speaking to Fletch and Tom's mother and sister. "It was great to be able to come to the first show."

"Yeah, it was amazing, wasn't it?" Danny replied. He lifted his towel and roughed it over his hair. "It's weird; it felt like it was the first show we ever played. Ever. But that it was perfect. Like we had a chance to see into the future and know how far we would go."

"Well, I could've told you that," Vicky said. "Any of us could. You all have something special that can't be rivaled by anyone else. Though I have to admit that bringing Busted into it was a cool idea." She paused, tilting her head to the side as her eyes trailed across the room. Danny followed her gaze and chuckled when he spotted Rhuben speaking enthusiastically with Matt, Jazzie, Ronan, and Patrick about something. "How's that going for you?"

Danny shrugged; bringing the mouth of his beer bottle up to his lips then lowered it. "About as well as I thought it would. I don't have anything against Charlie." He didn't truthfully, as a matter of fact there weren't many people in his life that he had ever actually disliked or hated, usually finding the best in anyone that came his way. According to his mother, he could be friendly to a fault, where he didn't realize he could be pushing someone away or having his friendship taken advantage of because he was someone so trusting. "It's cool that he's around."

"Oh yeah?" Vicky's eyes gleamed with a light that Danny immediately recognized to mean she was going to do her best to embarrass him. "What if I called both of them over here?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm going to do it."

"Fine."

"It's your last chance."

"You're not going to do it," Danny declared. Vicky looked at him for a moment then said, "No, I'm really not," and the two laughed immediately filling the room with the loud sounds. Danny pulled his towel off his head and used it to wipe at his eyes. "I miss having you around, Vicks. You need to come to more shows."

"I truly will," Vicky agreed. "But you have to remember that I have a life, too."

"What life? Your life revolves around me." He cried out in pain as Vicky punched him on the arm, leaning backwards. He leaned back so far that he bumped into someone behind him and he immediately straightened. "Sorry, mate, didn't see you there." He turned around and stared at his father standing behind him.

Alan Jones looked down at him and Vicky with a small smile before placing his hand on Danny's shoulder. "You did a great job out there, son."

Swallowing hard, feeling a vein in his forehead start to throb much as it did when he was stressed or incredibly angry. His eyes immediately darted over towards his mother, who stood blissfully unaware on the other side of the room, not having noticed that her ex-husband was in her vicinity. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see the show," Alan replied. "To see the family. You haven't returned any of my calls."

"He's still been calling you?" Vicky asked. "You said he stopped."

Danny ignored her, continuing to stare up the man that he used to fancy he would grow up to be like. Now he was glad the only thing he inherited from the man was his hair and eye colors and one of his middle names. He stood up and placed a hand to Alan's shoulder. "Let's go talk outside."

"Why can't I—"

"—because you've already hurt mum once before and I'm not going to let you do it again." He tightened his grip on his father's shoulder before dropping his hand and leaving the dressing room. Once he managed to force his way through the crowd he found Ronan walking into the room looking a bit more than stressed. "Hey Ronan, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Danny," Ronan replied with more than enough enthusiasm. He didn't seem as stressed as his appearance made him out to be. "Just a lot of things to work on with the upcoming shows. Trust me when I say you do not ever want to do the job that me, Fletch, Jake, or even Tommy do." He laughed lightly then his eyes shifted over towards Alan. "Hi, I'm Ronan McGuire."

"Alan Jones, nice to meet you," Alan said, shaking Ronan's hand. Ronan repeated the sentiments and started to walk into the dressing room. Danny frowned when he noticed the way he was moving.

"Ronan, are you limping?"

"Yeah. Just an old sports injury. No worries."

Shrugging, Danny turned back to his father and spoke in a low voice. "What do you want?" He asked. "Do you want to get back into Vicky's and my good graces? Do you want to get back together with mum? Are you going to try and take her to court for something else? What?" He didn't give Alan a chance to reply. "You know Mum is remarried. She doesn't want you."

"That's not why I'm here, Danny," Alan interrupted.

"You've been gone for so long…you tried to talk to me about the women you had been seeing when you were separating from mum…you tried to justify everything you've done but you've never apologized for it."

"Would you give me the chance?"

"I'm not giving it to you, now. No one wanted you to come here. You're ruining a day that should be really exciting for me. I'm celebrating ten years with some of the best mates I've ever had and now you show up…" Danny shook his head, bringing a hand up to his forehead to press his fingertips into his temples. "I really want to punch you in the bloody face, right now."

"You wouldn't be the first one," Alan said. He smiled humorlessly. "If I remember correctly your mum gave me a solid right hook when I was leaving." Danny glared at him and he held up his hands. "Okay, I know that coming here might not have been a good idea."

"How'd you get back here anyway? You're not on the approved list."

"That doesn't matter, Danny," Alan said, losing a bit of his patience. "What matters is that I'm trying to tell you something important and you won't listen to me."

"Are you dying?" Danny interrupted.

"No." Alan shook his head.

"Are you trying to get back with mum?"

"No."

"Is someone else dying?"

"No."

"Does this have to do with money?"

"No."

"Are you finally admitting that you were at fault?"

At Alan's hesitation Danny shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Then we have nothing to talk about." He pulled the towel from around his neck and threw it to Alan's feet, walking back into the dressing room with a dismissive, "I'll see you later, Dad."

* * *

**A/N: **Finally, finally got to the tour as well as having started Gen's plot as well as going in a bit further with Harry's and Danny's. Things will pick up as well as a lot of other genres for the story being brought in.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	18. Chapter 18

**.:Chapter Eighteen:.**

* * *

"Jesus Christ," Ronan whispered as he slowly stretched out his leg. He then looked over at Patrick, who sat on the end of his bed with a slight grin on his face. "Do you always have to jump on people like that?"

"Not on people, on _you_," Patrick explained. He rolled over onto his back and rested his hands on his stomach. "We needed to be sure you were awake. Couldn't have you sleep in, yeah? Too much stuff that we need to do."

"Before _breakfast?" _Ronny raised an eyebrow as he leaned back against his headboard. Placing his hands in his lap he looked over at Patrick and grinned a little. "It doesn't usually take you that long to do your normal hair care routine. And you haven't left a grease spot on my bed so I know you haven't put more than enough gel on your head yet." He pretended to think for a moment. "Unless you're just waiting to see if you can catch a glimpse of Katy."

Patrick smirked. "Or any girl in particular, I'm not picky." He then frowned. "Though Jake kinda pushed me out of that equation so…" He tilted his head back, turning an upside-down curious glance over towards his adoptive father. "How come you don't date?"

"You woke me up this early, by banging on my hotel door like a maniac, I might add, just to ask me why I'm still not dating?" Roan rubbed at his eyes before stifling a yawn. "I know that's not why you woke me up. Why don't you go to the gym or something? Anything so that I don't get a call from the front desk telling me that you and Riley stole a luggage cart again."

"That was Syd," Patrick said almost absentmindedly. "Me and Riles took the security cart." He squinted an eye as he thought about it. "And No and I took the fruit from the desk to use with our slingshot, and Rhu and I prank called you all night long in case you were wondering why you had all of that room service delivered to your room."

"I knew that was you."

"What else are we supposed to do in a hotel when we're not talking to fans?"

As if on cue, there was a knock and quiet shuffling from behind Ronan's door though no one made a move to answer it. No matter how many times they managed to change their names on reservations, take numerous cars to venues and hotels, and did runners after shows their fans always managed to find them. The worst one that Patrick remembered being when they got a flight to go back to Australia that their fans had somehow found out about and bought tickets on that flight. For McFly and Busted he was sure it was a toss-up between the ones that managed to find and hide in their hotel rooms or when some stowed away on their bus. Would've been a nasty shock either way.

"Sleep," Ronan pointed out. "Watch TV. Work on some music. Anything but bother me. You know Riley's awake, why don't you go bother her."

Patrick's eyebrows rose. "Do you _really _want the both of us together when we're bored?"

"I don't want you around _any _of your siblings when you're bored," Ronan pointed out. "And it doesn't seem like its anything that I can stop, anyway. I'm just glad I have Tom to be even a little bit of a responsible figure for you guys."

"God, you're so old. You don't know what it's like to have fun…" Now Patrick rolled back onto his stomach, eyebrows furrowing together. "What's up with Syd? He doesn't seem as happy to be on tour this time around as usual. I mean, apart from the obvious," he added, speaking about Robert. "I don't think any of us are taking too kindly to that, yeah?"

"Misses his girlfriend, misses Julius and Brittany, the usual," Ronan said calmly. He reached out and started to rub his leg, where Patrick had landed on him when he came into the room and leapt atop of him. It hurt the most when he tried to straighten it, even more so than it had been a few days before. He sighed lightly, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead. "Also, I think he's now very aware of the age gaps he has between all of you guys."

"It wasn't obvious before when Noah and I would pick him up like a ragdoll?"

"You _still_ do that."

"Because it's funny."

Ronan now sighed in slight frustration as he reached out and slapped his son on the arm. He brought his legs up into an Indian style position and sucked in a deep breath of sharp pain, doing his best to keep from allowing the pain to register on his face. Instead, he pushed himself to the side of the bed, being careful not to extend his leg too quickly or else a shot of pain would rush up to his brain. "Whatever, Pat. Now that you've woke me up, I think I'm going to go to the gym myself."

"Fine. I'll meet you down there. I think the rest of us are supposed to get a workout in this morning, too." Patrick said as he rolled off of the bed and onto the floor. He landed in a push-up position and popped himself up as if he was on a surfboard before standing up straight. "But don't be too upset if you can't keep up with us young folk."

Ronan reached out and shoved Patrick on the side of the head before going into the bathroom, moving at such a leisurely pace it was as if he was moving under water. Once he heard the front door close, he sighed heavily, leaning against the bathroom door. He lifted his left foot off the floor, waiting for the pain to subside, waiting for the joint to stop throbbing. It was all he could do to keep from yelling out his frustrations. All that night he couldn't sleep because of the constant throbbing pain in his knee. Normally it wasn't so bad.

Sure, every now and then it flared up. Usually when it was about to storm, when air pressure changed, if he slept on it weirdly, if he lifted weights the wrong way, if he allowed stress to take over him too much… Then again, in his line of work there was nothing but stress, but he was usually pretty good at managing it. To the point that it annoyed nearly everyone that worked with him how laid-back he could be, how when everything was crumbling around them in some sort of a crisis he could look at it with a calm air while he silently assessed the situation. Now it felt like the walls were closing in on him.

Second after second he felt the pressure continued to press down on all sides, clamping down on his head and neck, stabbing his knee with the sharpest of knives imaginable. No matter how much he slept how many pain pills he took to make it go away…it was there, following him. Even when he got a short time of respite, it was there, watching him, waiting for a weak moment where it would start all over again.

_Relax Ronan, _he thought to himself. _All you're doing is causing yourself to hurt more than you should. You can get through this. And then you can get the surgery done. Stop worrying. Everything is under control._

He let out a low sigh and lowered his chin, bringing his head down from the door. He walked over to the mirror and studied his reflection. He didn't see anything different about himself. Shaggy brown hair—which his kids practically forced him to grow out—five o'clock shadow that he needed to shave in a few days…he didn't look different at all. He didn't look tired or out of energy and yet…his body felt more run down than it ever had.

And…

Did he have a fever?

Bringing a hand up to his forehead, he pushed his fringe back out of his eyes. Did he feel warm? He couldn't afford to get sick. Not when the tour had just started. Filling up the sink with water he quickly cupped his hands within the cool liquid and splashed it over his face. That made him feel a little better. Much better, actually. The throbbing in his leg was already starting to go down. He just needed a pain pill and a little more sleep and he would be ready for the show that night.

The second show was always harder than the first and the third harder than the second due to the energy and excitement hat needed to be kept up while the tour went on. They wouldn't be able to relax until the last night of the tour, back in London, after they went through the UK, to Australia, a quick trip down to Brazil, then back to the UK once more. A couple of months away.

He could do it.

They'd get back, he'd get the surgery, he'd tell them everything. And he'd be better. All he had to do was wait and take the injections that his doctor gave him whenever the time came.

He could do it.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm trying to move the pacing of this story a bit faster. Please bear with me. T-T. For some reason this wasn't an issue when writing for BTR, haha.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	19. Chapter 19

**.:Chapter Nineteen:.**

* * *

Tom flipped onto his side and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. He couldn't sleep and hadn't been able to sleep all night. It wasn't the alien nightmare this time around that was plaguing him, it was his racing thoughts. He had gone to bed nearly as soon as the show ended, forgetting how tiring it was, and his mind wouldn't stop running through a flurry of worries.

Would the rest of the tour go well?

Was something going to go wrong?

Was someone going to mess up?

Did the fans like it?

Did the record company like it?

Did his managers think there was a point in going on the tour when they were just playing the same songs they knew over and over and over again?

Was everything okay with everyone else? He was such a stickler about how other people felt and being sure things were running smoothly. Not because he was OCD or anal retentive in that way—Danny and Dougie would be the first ones to laugh loudly at his insistence of that point—but because he had seen what happened to Busted, and Blink, and Son of Dork, and many other bands he had looked up to. He didn't want that for his band. When they first started he wanted them to be a united front in everything—and while that made him dabble in things that typically wasn't his taste, and was probably the reason he gained so much weight in a short amount of time—at least they were together.

Something this big, a ten year anniversary tour and accompanying album of the ten years they were McFly was a testament to that. If it failed now he would never forgive himself.

Rolling back the other way, Tom frowned as he looked at the clock. He had to get breakfast, get packed, and head off to the next venue. And he felt like nothing short of crap. Sitting up, Tom slid out of bed and reached over for his phone as it charged on the side of the table. It had blown up overnight with messages of support from his family and friends, especially his little sister Carrie who was going to the first five shows of their tour with her friends.

And yet he still worried.

About things he couldn't control about things he could control and…whether or not he was really cracking up. He needed coffee and he needed it now.

Standing up, he found that Danny had left the room, probably to go bug someone or had found some groupie to spend the night with. It certainly would not be the first time (or the last) to find Danny come whistling back into the hotel room with a massive grin on his face. Each and every time it happened it made Tom worry there was some girl out there that was either going to love McFly for the rest of their lives or end up hating their guts on the simple five second opening of one of their songs. He wasn't over one to tell Danny what to do but there were times he wanted to strangle his best friend for having a one track mind.

"I need to go the gym," he muttered, standing up and stretching his arms over his head.

He grabbed his headphones and his phone and put them together before changing into workout clothes and left the hotel room. As soon as he opened the door he nearly bumped into Danny who was shuffling back to the room. He had large bags under his eyes and glanced at Tom as if he were looking right through him.

"Whoa, Dan, are you okay?"

"Long party," Danny mumbled in reply. "Didn't get a lot of sleep."

"In a way I want to hear or…?"

"Oh yeah, that part was fine." Danny finally started to smile a little. "And I was able to show a bit of my DJ beats to a few people, but when some people say they know how to party, they really know how to party, yeah? They didn't stop until a few hours ago, I'm surprised any of them even sleep."

"You need to get ready to go, mate," Tom said to him. He tilted his head down the hallway towards the rooms their managers were staying in. "We're leaving in another hour or so."

"What I need is some sleep," Danny said. He patted Tom on the shoulder as he shuffled into the room, taking off his jacket a he went. "Send someone in to wake me up when we're about to leave. Preferably someone I can cuddle with."

"I'll get Dougie then."

With a laugh, Tom made sure that Danny at least managed to faceplant onto the bed before he left the room. He used his phone to navigate to a good workout album before he looked up, finding Gen and Jacqui walking down the hall towards him. For a moment he was confused as to why they were there, briefly wondering what of their jobs was going to have them up so early. Then he remembered they were on the tour as guests this year and relaxed a little.

"Hey girls," he greeted them. "Getting and early start?"

"More like not getting any sleep at all," Gen said honestly. She exchanged a glance with Jacqui. "I completely forgot how exciting touring and everything was." She beamed, pushing her hair behind her ears. "The first show as great and if that means anything the rest of the tour is going to go just as well."

"I hope," Tom replied.

"What makes you say that?"

"Nothing, really, it's just that the end of the tour is usually better than the beginning because by then we've hit our stride and are really playing up the crowd at this point." He draped his headphones around his neck, using it as an excuse to focus on the taking out the knot that had become entangled within it. "I guess I'm just worried about the first couple of shows."

"Or, Tom, you really need to lighten up," Gen pointed out. She grabbed onto his shoulders and gently shook him. "You're celebrating your tenth anniversary of being a band and best friends. Thinking about the negative and worrying isn't going to help you. Just take it a day at a time."

"I know. You're right."

Tom lifted his gaze form his headphones and smiled at Gen before taking a step back and looking over at Jacqui, realizing that he had basically ignored her throughout his and Gen's conversation. She didn't seem to mind, though, as she had her arms crossed, lips pulled into a grin as she shifted her gaze back and forth between Gen and Tom. He cleared his throat and asked her how she was doing and how well she slept the night before.

"Not great, but I think I can blame that on all of the Red Bull you guys have in your dressing room," Jacqui said. She bobbed her head back and forth. "Not to mention being able to be on tour and not have to work is just so exciting!" Her eyes then moved up and down Tom's attire. "I hope you're not going to the gym like that. The Star Wars shirt is awesome, but you don't need matching pants, too."

"I'm sure if they were Harry Potter you wouldn't have a problem with them," Tom stated. He noticed that a funny look came over Jacqui's face and she seemed to start laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's an inside joke," Jacqui said quickly. Then Gen gave her a funny look but didn't press the matter further. "Have a good time at the gym. Sweat hard. Maybe get noticed by the paparazzi, the fans will love it. See ya."

"See you later, Tom," Gen added.

"Later." Tom gave a short wave, focusing on the knot in his headphones once more.

With that, she looped her arm through Gen's and the two stepped around Tom and headed to their hotel room.

Tom went down to the hotel's gym, unworking the knot as he went. Finally, he unraveled it and stuck the earbuds into his ears as he started up an album. Placing his hands on his hips, he looked around at all of the equipment waiting for him to use. He let out a low breath, half wanting to get Harry to work out with him, but also knowing he would probably be driven into the ground if he did so and he couldn't afford that before going on stage that night. He made that mistake once and couldn't move for hours on end the day after. Making up his mind, he moved to the dumb bells and picked up a few weights. He then caught his reflection in the mirror and frowned.

Lowering the dumb bells back into place he turned to the side and placed his hands on his stomach, feeling the slight bulge that sat there. Then he turned the other way and frowned, tilting his head to the side to examine every inch of his body. He leaned forward and tugged and pulled at the sides of his face, smoothing it back and pulling it out. Finally he stepped back, picked up the dumbbells and got to work.

Skipping breakfast for one day wasn't going to hurt anyone.

* * *

_"So here's what I need you to do."_

_Startled, Dougie whirled around in his seat and gazed up at his father, who leaned in his doorway, staring at him. No, not at him. Through him, behind him, as if he wasn't there. Dougie continued to watch him; his hands in his lap as Elliot took a step forward, nearly tripping over Dougie's backpack. Elliot glanced down at it and moved it aside with a sweep of his foot. Then he focused on Dougie once more. _

_"I need you to tell me what's going on with your sister," Elliot said, sitting down on the end of Dougie's bed. Dougie tilted his head to the side but continued to say nothing. "I know there's something going on with her and I know she would talk to you about it."_

_Finally, Dougie straightened his head. "What do you mean? I haven't noticed anything was wrong with her."_

_"She's not talking to me as much, and you know Jazzie loves to talk." Elliot gave a low chuckled before pressing the palms of his hands together, resting his chin atop his fingertips. "She hasn't wanted me or your mother around lately. If we try to speak to her she gives us an attitude. I can't say the bloody same for you, you barely talk as it is. You're never a problem."_

_Dougie didn't say anything. He wasn't a problem. Of course not. He just wanted to stay out of everything. Stick to himself. How many times could he go around school and get picked on and told he was nothing but a lizard lover, a freak, and weird? The friends he had, the ones he skated around with were just as weird as he was, into the same music, but he didn't see them much. Every now and then after school and that was about it. He had to take care of his pets otherwise._

_"I'm sure Jazzie's okay, Dad," Dougie finally said. "She's just getting older, you know how it is? Girls are weird, anyway."_

_"Is that why you don't have a girlfriend?"_

_Dougie made a face, making Elliot burst out into loud laughter. It wasn't like he wasn't interested in girls. They just weren't interested in him. That was just fine, they made him nervous and he got sweaty and a strange feeling filled his gut; twisting and turning, burning like acid. But there was something about him that made girls giggle a little as he walked by. Maybe it was his skater clothes? Rumors maybe? He wasn't sure. It was really confusing. He didn't have time for girls, anyway._

_"I don't have a girlfriend because I don't have a girlfriend, Dad."_

_"You always were so bloody shy." Elliot reached out and ruffled Dougie's hair, causing him to smile. He reached up his hands to push Elliot's away, but found his father's grasp tighten over his head. "You know what you need to do? You need to man up. You're such a wuss, Dougie. You don't leave you room. You always hang around these stupid lizards. You don't have any real friends. We need to remedy that."_

_Now Dougie brought up both hands and grasped his father's wrist. He pushed hard trying to budge his hand but the grasp continued to tighten around his scalp. Elliot's thumb pressed into Dougie's temple and the fifteen year old cried out in pain. Then he was lifted to his feet by a single shift in Elliot's body weight and was flung onto his bed. Elliot grasped the collar of Dougie's shirt with one hand, pressing his full weight down on his son before using the other to grab Dougie's neck._

_"You need to man up. You're such a wuss."_

_Choking, Dougie looked up into his father's eyes, watching in fear as his father brought his hand back above his head. Then he brought it down and everything went back._

_That was the first dream Dougie had that night. There were many others. Some he didn't remember, others that weren't much of being a dream at all other than the voices and sights and sounds he could recognize. Some were flashes of things he had gone through with the band. The highs and the lows, unable to believe how they had managed to get to where they were. Those were the ones he wished stood out. Those were the ones he wished would take away the memories of his father._

The second dream was worse.

_Dougie slowly walked along the sidewalks of his neighborhood, head bent to the ground. He scuffed his feet, kicking at a rock every few seconds when he wasn't focusing on the sheet of paper in his hand. He held it tightly, knowing the excuse that he 'lost it' wasn't going to fly. His teacher was probably going to call anyway. But was it his fault he didn't like to it in school and do school work? Was it his fault that nothing interested him other than music? Well, he probably could have studied more; his teacher did tell him over and over again that he was in danger of failing the class but he wanted to skate with his friends instead. In the moment he didn't care to think about class, but now walking back home he thought of how angry his parents were going to be._

_How angry his father was going to be._

_How disappointed his mother would be. _

_She was the one he usually turned to. She was disappointed but still made him feel that he was still able to amount to whatever it was he wanted to be. His father on the other hand…_

_The blond teen shook his head._

_He had to be careful._

_"Dougie! Are you listening to me?"_

_Twisting to the side, Dougie watched as Jazzie continued to balance on the curb, arms out stretched and her face twisted into an expression of intense concentration. She looked up at Dougie, giving him an annoyed expression and launched into her story again. Something about the girls and boys in her classes having some sort of a war against each other over 'prime space' in the cafeteria._

_If only his problems were so simple._

_"What's wrong, Dougie?" Jazzie finally moved next to him and raised her eyebrows in concern. "You're even broodier than usual. You're not being your weird self." She brought her hands to her mouth, eyes widening. "Did a lizard die?"_

_"No. I just got a bad grade on a test and I have to have Mum and Dad sign it," Dougie replied. Jazzie lowered her hands and nodded sympathetically. "Don't worry, Jazz. Everything will be all right."_

_"The class is really hard though, innit? They should understand that."_

_"Not after this being the third test that I've failed."_

_"Ohh."_

_The two continued walking along in silence and when they arrived home, Jazzie ran to her room to get changed out of her uniform while Dougie went into the living room to speak to his parents. There was no use delaying the inevitable._

_Next thing he knew, he was forced into his room by his father—his mother was still at work—and yelled and screamed at for an hour while he cowered in the corner of the room._

His fear had woken him up. It had really happened, but there were slight differences. He hadn't walked home with Jazzie that day as she had a soccer practice after school. His mother was there and had commented on how disappointed she was that he wasn't taking school seriously. His father hadn't said anything to him until after dinner and then he received a kick to the stomach.

It was easier to hide.

And for every hour he managed to sleep after the show but before waking up they played through his head over and over until he finally woke up and grabbed the beer bottle that sat on his bedside table and downed it in one gulp.

* * *

Riley looked up as Noah dropped down into the seat across from her, dropping a plate of breakfast food along with him. She eyed his plate filled with toast, eggs, and fruit before sticking her finger into the book she was reading to mark her place. "How'd you sleep?"

"You started without me," he said in a slightly accusatory tone.

She smiled. "I figured you were going to be up soon, anyway. No worries." Riley dog-eared her page and closed the book, gently setting it aside. Pushing her glasses up her nose she trained her gaze on him once more. "How'd you sleep?" She repeated, noticing he hadn't answered her question.

He shrugged, turning the brim of his hat around so that it rested against his neck then leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. He picked up his fork and speared a piece of cantaloupe but didn't move it to his mouth. Instead he waved it around. "Alright. Better than you. How'd you sleep?"

"I didn't. Not much anyway being on tour doesn't make for consistent bedtimes."

"That's not healthy."

Riley snorted as she picked up her mug of hot chocolate and raised it to her lips. "I've had this issue for years and you're just now pointing out how unhealthy it is? Cheers, bro. Insomnia's a bitch. But I haven't felt like punching anyone in the face in a long time so that must be progress." She took a sip and lowered her mug. "And despite not liking it at all I haven't missed not being able to drink coffee so…" She shrugged then changed the subject, a teasing lift to her voice and a teasing smile on her face. "So no groupies in your bed when you woke up?"

Noah popped the bite of cantaloupe into his mouth and smirked around his chewing. "I would've screamed bloody murder if I had, yeah?"

"I reckon, that's not the kind of reaction a guy normally has."

"Yeah, well, someone that close to my personal space when I wake up is bound to either be drop-kicked or punched." He smiled. "It's the only year Patrick had a black eye for his yearbook picture."

"And I think he's still bitter about it." Riley picked up a salt shaker and started to move it over her eggs, ignoring Noah's curious eyebrow raise. "The only time his flawless face has managed to be disfigured." She laughed then turned serious. "I've been thinking about what Robert wants. I don't think I could do it, not because of the bloody obvious reason, but because I don't think I can go through another trial and being questioned like that."

"I know what you mean." Noah nodded. "I think that was more traumatizing than anything else in some ways." He twirled his fork around his fingers then gave Riley a pointed look. "You can't make the decision for the rest of us, you know?" Riley tilted her head to the side, lifting her eyebrows, but didn't speak. "You and Rhu, you need to stop being such mothers to us. Especially considering I'm twenty and I can make my own decisions."

Riley rightened herself and smiled a little. "Habits are hard to break, little bro." _Especially in terms like this. _Being out on the road, as much as it was, made people react in many different ways. Not only was there fatigue and homesickness after a while, but having to constantly be under pressure of having to 'perform' on stage and when meeting fans, made things harder and harder. Having something like Robert's request hanging over their heads was herd enough.

Many times she wondered if there was ever going ot be a long stretch of time where they could live in peace and look forward to the future, but there was always something that brought them back. Mentions of their parents didn't anger her as much as it used to. She was able to smile with pride whenever they were brought up in conversation, but the sadness and loneliness still came around every now and then. She was sure Robert felt the same way in a sense; his father had beat him, his mother let it happen, he had no siblings and he had no children.

Noah's voice broke her out of her thoughts. It was just as well, if she dwelled too much she just become bitter. "Doesn't mean I don't thank you."

"We already told you, you don't have to."

"I know." Noah looked at his watch. "Better let the others sleep in a bit longer then get them down for breakfast. Or else we're going to have to stop for food again." He shook his head. "I don't know how you lot managed with me and Pat eating everything in sight. But now that Syd's reached that age, we're bound to be in trouble." He smiled. "I hope every hotel we stop at is ready for that, too."

"_No _hotel is ready for us, McFly, Busted, or anyone associated with our names."

"True."

Riley reached out and ruffled Noah's hair, causing him to smile.

* * *

**A/N: **So for Riley's portion of the chapter, of anyone that reads my other stories with the Jacksons in it, I show a lot of Riley's and Patrick's relationship as well as Riley and Sydney and Riley and Rhuben's by the time I was getting into the later stories for BTR, so I showed Riley and Noah's relationship, which I don't show a lot of, honestly.

And of course more on what's going on with Tom and Dougie. I hope to have the next chapter up soon, I didn't mean for such a long wait between them but I had been a bit busy.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	20. Chapter 20

**.:Chapter Twenty:.**

* * *

Harry lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut as he moved through the drum fills on the song _Friday Night. _Actually, it was one of his most favorite songs to be able to perform on stage, the arrangement they worked out for playing it live was awesome. Not only did he have a bit of a drum solo at the beginning of the song, complete with his drum kit being placed upon a rising platform, but Tom, Danny, and Dougie also got their own try with drumming on large ten gallon drums on the lower stage as well.

Not to say they were bad at drumming by any means, but now they at least knew the kind of work he had to put into his drumming. It wasn't like he sat back and jut beat at a set of drum heads every now and then. It wasn't like he wasn't completely covered in sweat at the end of a show; he worked just as hard as the three that ran back and forth across the stage for over an hour. The fact that they all didn't have carpel tunnel was a miracle.

Getting off stage during a brief intermission, Harry was in a constant buzz. Not just because of the beer he drank before going onstage, but because of how excited he was to be touring again. That was always the best part. Seeing their fans was the second best part, seeing the people their music had touched. But being able to play and feed off the energy everyone was giving them couldn't compare.

"You guys look like you're working really hard out there," James commented from where he sat in the nearby stairwell, quietly strumming his guitar. "I can't wait until we can do it, too."

"You've been playing ever since we started the tour, mate," Harry reminded him, sitting down on a concrete step, resting his arms on his upraised knees. He looked around at the three Busted boys as they lounged around; waiting for their fifteen minute set which would start after McFly was done with their acoustic set. "And the fans love it."

"Yeah, just kind of wish we could be doing more," James said.

Harry looked over at Charlie and the tallest member of Busted didn't respond. Harry thought that was a wise choice. Since the three-part band got back together it seemed like James and Charlie would go out of their way to antagonize each other while Matt, as usual, sat in the middle of the group. He agreed with James in terms of wanting to do more, but at the same time he agreed with Charlie when saying 'it wasn't their tour and they couldn't take it over'.

Harry sort of understood, though. James saw how much the fans liked them doing their music as Busted again and he wanted to experience it as the concrete band. But years before James, Matt, and Charlie agreed they wouldn't do their band with just the two of them and Charlie only agreed to play some shows for his friends—even if they hadn't all been together in a long time—and as a favor to Fletch. It had been a few weeks since tour started and so far they had barely been able to get through a day without an argument breaking out between James and Charlie.

Once he had seen them fight over a slice of bread and that had, somehow, blown up to the point that they had to sit on two different sides of their large dressing room before the show. _I can say one thing for sure; they know how to act professional onstage. At least that chemistry is still there._

"Don't worry about it, we're going to figure out how that'll work," Harry reassured him. "Especially when we get to the shows that are, specifically, on our tenth anniversary at RAH. Fletch and Jake already said they have a really great idea of what we're going to do those days." He clasped his hands together. "Other than that, it really all depends on you three."

Matt whipped his head around and shot Harry a look, to which Harry shrugged in reply. Maybe it was the booze he had drank before going onstage but he didn't care for or about the arguing the boys were more than likely to fall into that day. It wouldn't be a daily quota without it.

"We won't have to worry about it if someone would get their act together," James said, turning to face Charlie.

Charlie glared and opened his mouth to respond, but Matt stuck his hands out in front of his friends' faces and waved them around. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Before you two start fighting, we're supposed to be on stage in five minutes! Don't fall apart now!" He crossed his arms. "Seriously, for _once_ can you pull your heads out of your asses and remind yourselves that we're doing this for these guys? None of this is about us! And I'm so tired of having to sit back and watch you tear at each other's throats!"

"Fine," James aid. "Then when we're not on stage we just won't talk to each other."

"As long as you stop making such snide remarks under your breath as if no one can hear you, mate, then fine," Charlie replied. He turned away, tuning his guitar and strumming away at it.

Harry shrugged once more as Matt groaned loudly and got to his feet. "I'm going to see how the others are doing, rest a bit. You lot have fun." He walked down the rest of the steps, his feet echoing as he went and walked to the dressing room. Okay, maybe he was acting out of character, kind of stirring things up a bit between the three of them. But maybe now they would finally talk about it. Nothing was worse than having to deal with people who were fighting and not speaking all the time. Maybe a push in the right direction—or in this case a shove off a cliff—would help.

What the hell did he care? It wasn't his band that was having the problems. He didn't need to worry about it so much. As it was, he didn't worry about anything other than having a good show. When he was on stage he worked on his drumming and made sure it was a good show. When he wasn't on stage he was working out, practicing, and having a good time, trying to stay as relaxed as possible.

"Yo," he called, walking into the dressing room, making a beeline for the refrigerator.

"Yo," came the unanimous reply from the Jacksons, Gen, and Jacqui. Sydney turned away from his computer, carefully closing it with a pressed of his palm against the top. "How's the show going?"

"I figured you all would be in the audience," Harry remarked. He grabbed a beer and flipped open the top before walking over to the couch and flopping down on it, stretching his legs. It wasn't until he stopped moving he realized how much his legs and arms were throbbing. Drumming was a lot harder than people made it seem.

"Well there are only few times you need to see the same show before you realize it's the same thing over and over," Jacqui pointed out. She lowered her computer screen. "I just like hanging out with you guys…being able to see some live shows…get to see you half naked all the time."

"I was wondering when you were going to get to the _real _reason why you jumped on to being our guests this time around," Patrick teased.

"If you want to take off your shirt, Pat, that's fine too."

Gen laughed loudly as Riley and Rhuben both rolled their eyes. "Don't flirt with my brother, Jac-Jac," Rhuben said. "Not only is it weird, but he's wayyy too young for you." She picked up her drumstick and threw it at her friend in retaliation, causing Gen and Jacqui to squeal with laughter, leaning out of the way.

"How is that any different from having gone out with the other guys thought?" Gen pointed out. She smoothed her hair form her face. "Considering you're Pat's, No's, and Syd's sisters but they didn't say anything about it." At the loud snorts that came from the boys, she lowered her fingers. "I stand corrected." A wistful, distant look then came to her eyes and she turned away, moving her hair behind her ear.

Harry tilted his head to the side as he watched her. There was something in that look he noticed, but couldn't quite put his finger on. Speaking of fingers…Lifting his hand, Harry turned it this way and that. When had he cut his hand? It was smeared with blood and yet he didn't feel anything. He was probably going to need stitches. Tilting his head to eth side, Harry continued to stare as beads of blood welled up between his fingers and rolled down his hand. Actually, it was kind of cool. Bleeding for your own art. Awesome.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the conversation topic at hand. "From what Fletch told us when we first started, having a girlfriend was going to be nothing but trouble." He took another swig of beer and belched loudly. "Getting us into trouble and doing bad things. They're the gateway to drugs you know." He pointed directly at Jacqui. "Especially that one."

The shocked expression on her face, made the others laugh. "Please! I'm high on life! I don't need to alter my body with any substances." She paused, realized the joke she made, and burst out laughing with everyone else. "Wow, I didn't even try that time." She then pouted. "Fletch really said that I was a bad girlfriend for you?"

"Not just you, all of you," Harry said. He moved to put his beer down then frowned, missing the coffee table a few times. Finally he leaned over further and shakily set it down. Then he leaned back on the couch and pointed towards Riley and Rhuben. "Especially you two!"

"Me?" Riley's eyes widened and she placed her hand on her chest. "Never."

"You?" Patrick repeated. "Always." He ducked out of the way when Riley reached over to slap the back of his head, dive rolling to the ground as he did so.

"You two were stuck in as many schemes as the four of us were," Harry pointed out. "Remember when we went ghost hunting? When we went on that road trip? When we were in Australia and we buried Dougie in the sand and forgot where we buried him? Everything that happened in New York! When we…" he trailed off, snapping his fingers. "Basically it was a lot of stuff. Like when we were filming the Friday Night video and you convinced Tom to steal the car."

"Whoa!" Rhuben held up her hands. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hang on a tick, mate." She pointed at Harry. "_You _were the one that had said when you were sitting in the car, waiting for the shoot to start, 'Hey Tom, why don't you take the car for a joyride. I bet you won't do it'." She lowered her voice to imitate his. "And you know whenever _you _set up a bet; it's never going to end. So for five minutes you were constantly telling him 'do it, do it, do it' with Danny and Dougie, because those two are sheep. And Riles and I were like 'No, don't steal the car'."

"Please!" Noah made a face. "You were egging him on all the same."

"Not at first. And that's beside the point."

Oh.

_Now _it was starting to come back to him.

They were waiting in between shots for their music video for _Friday Night _years before and were bored. And when McFly got bored some of the strangest and dumbest things they had ever done for entertainment came out. One time they found a handheld bug zapper and stuck their tongues against it to see how much it hurt, once Danny found a shock collar and barked with it on…when it was at the highest setting, they constantly messed with each other when they were getting massages—he remembered how hard Tom had beat him when Harry crop dusted him while his face was stuck in the hole of the massage table. And how Tom retaliated against him when he was getting acupuncture by sticking a needle in between the webs of his toes.

That particular day they were sitting in the car for ages and had gotten so bored that Harry declared Tom should steal the car and take it around the block for a joyride. Danny and Dougie immediately jumped on it, slapping the back of Tom's seat and yelling at him to do it. And from what Harry could remember—it was all bits and pieces now—he did goad Tom into it by mentioning the word 'bet' over and over again. And he did, sort of, remember Riley and Rhuben saying he shouldn't take it, but the next thing he knew they got lost down a series of one-way streets and were screaming at each other to get back to the location. When they finally did, Tom made the others promise to pretend that the car hadn't moved at all. It hadn't worked with Fletch and they all got Fletched by him for at least twenty minutes straight…where Danny, Dougie, and Harry immediately threw Tom under the bus.

"You know, if it were Jake he wouldn't have minded," Harry mumbled, changing the subject. "Considering that streak of good luck hat he had for a while there, we could've gotten away with it. If he and Ashley hadn't given it to Katy, I mean."

Not that he even really believed in it; he had seen some strange things going on around Jake since having met the guy and now refused to be anywhere near him when backstage at a concert in case he was locked down a hole one more, but he wasn't entirely sure he believed in luck.

A lot of things happened in his life that he worked hard for. If he hadn't had been put into the school he had been sent to—because of his cricket playing abilities—then he wouldn't have heard about Charlie joining a band, he wouldn't have started playing the drums himself, he wouldn't have made it into McFly and met some of the best people he had ever been able to know. And all of that was due to how hard he worked on everything that came his way. Even if that meant he worked hard to mess with Tom from time to time.

"Speaking of, what's up with Jake and Ashley?" Noah asked. He flipped his hair from his face. "I mean, they've been together long enough. They should be getting married soon, yeah?"

"If that were the case I would've married my last girlfriend," Patrick pointed out.

Gen finally smiled again, turning her attention back to the others. She had been silent throughout the rest of their conversation, something before that had been preoccupying her mind that she finally managed to break out of. "What happened with that? I thought you two were so cute together."

"Miscommunication."

"Ha!" Rhuben shook her head then leaned towards Gen and Jacqui as if to share a secret. "She moved without telling him."

Patrick held his hands up. "Again, I say, miscommunication. But that was on her part, yeah? Not mine….for once."

Harry chuckled and finished his drink. He got up to toss the bottle in the recycling, and found himself stumbling. The floor tilted and slanted and he stumbled forward, doing his best to keep from crashing his forehead into a nearby table, grabbing the edge of the recycling bin as he did so. A relieved sigh escaped his lips and he righted himself. Before he knew it, Jacqui and Sydney—who was quiet throughout the conversation—was at his sides, pushing him up.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Jacqui asked, holding onto his arm.

Harry shook his head, pushing the wave of dizziness away. That was weird. He hadn't had been hit by something like that so easily before. Not as long as he could remember. Not since the first time he had tried beer and passed out nearly as soon as he finished his second bottle.

"Yeah," he said, bringing a hand up to his forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine. I must've stood up too fast."

"Are you sure?" Sydney asked. His eyebrows were lowered in concern, blue eyes boring into his. "You're bleeding." He motioned to Harry's hand and the drummer looked down at it, as if he just noticed the blood for the first time.

"Hey, I am," he said, eyes widening and mouth dropping open in shock. "Geez, beer bottles are sharper than I thought." He leaned forward to pick up the bottle he had just put into the recycling. "Are all of the others like that, too?" He leaned too far forward and started to pitch himself forward amongst the garbage.

"Harry!" Sydney grabbed onto the belt of his jeans and pulled back as hard as he could, righting the drummer. "I know your nickname is Hazzard, but this is ridiculous, mate." He pushed Harry around, holding firmly to him and peered into his face. Then he reached up his hand and shaded Harry's eyes, removed his hand, and shaded them again. Over and over again. Then he took a step back. "Are you _sure _you're okay? You nearly face planted."

"Yeah. Yeah." Harry brought his hand, that wasn't covered in blood, up to his face and ran it through his hair. "I'm fine."

"At least let me get the medic to check you over. You know the risk of high blood pressure and everything when we're performing. And that can't be good for your hand," Sydney continued. He looked over to Riley, who nodded in agreement then turned back to Harry. "It'll just take a tick."

"No! No. I'm fine. I have to go back onstage in a few minutes anyway. It's not a big deal." Harry held out his hand to show the others. "See? The bleeding's stopped already. I must have hurt myself while drumming. Happens all the time, right?" He looked over at Rhuben for confirmation.

"Right," She agreed. "But—"

"See? I'm fine. I've got to go. You guys did a great job opening tonight, keep up the good work."

With that, Harry left the dressing room and made his way back towards the stage, stumbling all the way. He made it to the staircase, holding onto the railing and trying to keep his wits about him. He had no idea how long he was there or how he managed to get to the stage; but the next thing he knew he was with his best friends congratulating each other on a job well done.

* * *

**A/N: **Whew, finally getting to the other point of the story! Trust me when I say the wait was worth it. The concerts will be shown every now and then, but that's not the entire focus of the story.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	21. Chapter 21

**.:Chapter Twenty-One:.**

* * *

"Okay, so if you had to choose between sneezing every time you blink and yawning every time you breathe, which would you rather?" Jacqui asked, crossing her legs at the knee. She slid down in her seat and crossed her arms behind her head as she waited for her response.

Rhuben gave her an odd look before exchanging a glance with Riley and Gen, who appeared to be as confused. Not only because of the question, but because it was a good question and they didn't know how to answer.

"I don't know," Gen said slowly. "If you were yawning every time you breathe it meant that you would be tired all the time, right?"

"Not really," Rhuben piped up. "Most of the time you yawn it's because you're cooling down your brain, taking carbon monoxide out of your blood, etcetera, etcetera," she waved her hand before turning to her sister with an amused smile. "Oh the things you learn when you have a little brother that's part of Mensa."

"And doesn't know when to shut up," Riley added, causing the two girls to laugh.

"Hello?" Jacqui waved a hand in the air. "My question! None of you are answering my question. You know, it's nice to be acknowledged ever now and the—ack!" Jacqui grabbed onto the side of the couch as the bus took a sudden sharp turn, threatening to pitch her off the piece of furniture and onto the ground. Rhuben stretched out her legs and pressed them firmly into the arm of the couch she was sitting on, holding herself in place.

Riley stretched her arms behind her head and pressed her palms into the side of her chair and Gen sat calmly in her seat, twisting to the side to glance out the window. "Looks like we're going to stop for food soon." Replacing the blinds she rubbed her stomach. "I'm starting to get hungry. How long has it been since we left this morning, anyway?"

Stretching her arm over her head Riley looking at her watch to check the time. "About ten hours, who knew it would take this long. Traffic must be rubbish. In that case I'm glad I'm not on the same bus as the boys or else I would be bald from ripping my hair out." She turned to Jacqui when he cleared her throat loudly, hoping to finally have her question answered. "Yawn when breathing. I run on few hours of sleep as it is, yawning isn't any different, yeah?"

"I don't know, I think I'd rather sneeze every time I blink," Gen said, resting her hands in her lap. "I think the relief coming from it would be better than yawning all the time. If I were yawning I'd be tired and that's no fun."

"Clearly you haven't been on tour for a while," Rhuben pointed out. "Because some of the best times are when you're deliriously tired but you don't want to go to sleep yet." She sat up straight and lowered her voice. "Last time we were in Aus we talked the guys into dressing in drag and doing a fashion show we were so bored. And watching Tom go flying off the front of the stage is something I'm probably never going to forget."

Jacqui leaned forward and slapped Gen on the leg. "I told you we should have stayed for an extra week. Do you know how long I would've been able to hold that over Tom's head?" She sat back, a pout coming to her face. "You know nothing's more fun to me than making fun of Tom."

"That's beaus he makes it so easy," Gen pointed out, laughing. She tilted her head, hair brushing over her shoulder as she did so, an unsettling look coming to her eyes. "Sometimes I think that I should've stayed with him, he's so sweet. But with distance and everything it made it hard and then there was Jeremy…" she immediately trailed off but Rhuben and the others could hear the sudden change in her tone. There was something she wasn't saying and as far as Rhuben remembered, she hadn't heard anything about a Jeremy before.

"Who's Jeremy?" She asked slowly, not wanting to pry but her curiosity got the better of her.

"Oh, he's just my ex-boyfriend," Gen said with a wave of her hand. "I met him while in school. He was nice but things didn't really work out. School work and everything got in the way and we didn't spend as much time together as we did before." She shrugged again. "It's no big deal." She turned her attention to the other girls. "What about you? Boyfriends? No."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend while you were on tour?" Riley asked with a raised eyebrow. "If that's not the definition of a long distance relationship then I don't know what is. Like you said, things didn't work out because of time and distance. We knew it was only a matter of time until it was something we couldn't get through."

"Same here," Rhuben agreed, raising her hand. Though her last boyfriend wasn't in a band and wasn't on tour with them and seemed to grow a bit resentful of the lifestyle she had compared to the one he did. As far as she was concerned, much like other exes she had, he was only using her to try and horn in the fame and fortune she had.

"I haven't dated much," Jacqui said. "Just having some fun, focusing on myself and what school had to offer." She then grinned, rubbing her hands together. "But hey, being on tour with a bunch of good looking guys is bound to hold my attention for a while."

"I reckon you're shameless, Jac-Jac," Riley teased, reaching over and slapping her on the leg. The girls laughed as the bus slowed to a stop. Rhuben sat up and looked out through the window before swinging her legs to the ground and grabbed her shoes.

"Food's up! Let's go!" She reached over and jumped onto Jacqui's back, slapping her on the butt. "Let's go, horsey!"

"Don't forget that because I'm so much taller than you that if I drop you it'd be like falling off a building," Jacqui said, hooking her arms around Rhuben's legs and held her up. "And I won't be held accountable for you cracking your head open on the ground. But your fans would sure be mad."

Rhuben thought for a moment as Jacqui slowly walked down the steps of the bus then tapped her on the shoulder. "You're right. Let me down, I can't take the risk of becoming as dumb as Patrick." She slid to the ground and straightened the bottom of her shirt.

"I heard that," Patrick called as he and the other boys got off the bus. He gave her the finger and she gave it back to him, causing him to smile a little before it dropped as much as his eyelids.

Rhuben looked over at the boys as they filed off the bus, shuffling towards the restaurant, and started to laugh. Not only did all of the boys but Dougie look annoyed, but they were also worse for the wear. Jake, Ronan, and Fletch disappeared inside to be sure there was enough space for the large group to get some food. They typically had a longer wait considering how much wait staff was needed when they were around. Just like every other time they went somewhere they were told to 'wait' and 'don't move'. It was true when Ronan had said McFly and the DarkElements put together was usually nothing but trouble.

Noah shuffled over to Rhuben as if he didn't have the energy to pick his feet up off the ground. With bags under his eyes and eyes and his hair which was typically smoothed down over his eyes, was sticking up all over the place.

"What happened to you?" She asked.

Noah gave her a look, crossing his arms over his chest. "Dougie happened to me," he explained, his voice in a low mumble, causing Rhuben to strain to hear. He already spoke quietly, but when it was groggy like that Noah's voice was almost completely discernible. "He seemed to have the idea that if he couldn't get to sleep none of the rest of us could." He turned as Dougie came leaping off of the boys' tour bus, calling Riley's name as he went before skipping across the parking lot towards her.

Riley sighed, shaking her head as Dougie reached her side and lowered down so that his shoulder was at her stomach level. He wrapped his arms around her legs and lifted her up over his shoulder before walking away. "I'll deal with it," She said as she was carried away. If there was anyone that understood Dougie more than he did, it was Harry and Riley. Considering the latter had dated Dougie for almost a year and was now best friends with him it seemed that she was the one that handled him and his crazy antics on more than one occasion.

"What about you guys?" Noah then asked, taking his sister's attention again. "How'd you guys sleep?"

"Have you ever been around a bunch of girls at night?" Rhuben asked with a laugh. "No one ever sleeps. We sit up eating and talking all night. And then when we do finally fall asleep it's only for a few hours or so before getting up to talk again."

"You talk about us?"

"You mean about your crush on my friends, no not really," Rhuben teased. She reached out and poked Noah on the cheek and he pushed her hand away. "Besides, I think you'd do much better with Jazzie, Carrie, or Katy."

"And have Tom, Dougie, or Jake all try to kill me?" Noah flicked his hair out of his face in one move. "I don't think so."

"Like you haven't tried that with any of the boyfriends I've had?" As she said this, she turned her gaze towards a loud whooping sound coming from the guys, seeing Tom viciously lean over and try to slap Harry as he ducked out of the way and ran, then her gaze landed on Charlie. He stood with Matt and Sydney, twisting and turning as they continued to watch Tom chase Harry around, yelling as he did so. Charlie turned around to watch and his eyes met hers.

Rhuben felt herself hold her breath. A mix of emotions flew through her stomach, spreading as if she had just stepped inside a form fitting body-suit. She hadn't put much thought into Charlie being on the road with them for the tour because she had been so focused on the tour in general. Being able to celebrate McFly's ten year anniversary was a blast so far but she couldn't wait for the days at RAH. Not only would there be fans of the band there to help the boys celebrate, but there would also be the time to show McFly how much they meant to her and her siblings, what they meant to music…there was so much to prepare. There was the surprise video they were putting together from the five of them, and then what she was doing individually for them.

She had never thought Busted would be part of that equation when the topic was first brought up. If anything she never thought Busted the way it used to be would be part of the equation; James and Matt were a no-brainer. They loved the band just as much as they loved life itself and it was Charlie that had issues within it. Of course it wasn't until later anyone got an idea of what those issues were, but the band had imploded quicker than any other band they had seen before. And being in the music industry as long as she had, she'd seen projects get stuck in development hell, she'd seen a band release a song that into obscurity, she'd even seen bands not get any further than the initial stages before falling apart.

Hopefully with them back together they'd finally find some time to air out all of their grievances and talk about what really went wrong with the three of them. Other than the snide comments they sent back and forth while Matt tried to ignore them all.

Charlie's appearance was an inhibitor to other people, not just his band. She could see that Danny felt a bit awkward around him, seeming to shrink whenever the taller man came nearby. Though that didn't stop his friendly demeanor when including Charlie in activities and conversation. _That's Danny for you, _she thought. _You could be his worst enemy and he'd still have a nice thing to say to you. _She could see her brothers and sister were happy to see Charlie but weren't sure how to react when he was around because of their solidarity to her, Dougie was sort of blind to the whole thing—as he normally seemed to be—Tom and Harry were cordial but knew the problems the other Busted boys had, and Jacqui and Gen were a mixture of everyone else. Though Jacqui did do her best to flirt with him when she got the chance, as well as the other boys.

Rhuben herself was the only one who didn't know how to feel about him being around. On one hand she was happy to see him. Just as she was with anyone she hadn't seen for some time. And it wasn't like she wasn't allowed to think about the memories they had together. But there was that other part of her. The part that got angry every time she looked at him or had to be reminded he was around. They hadn't spoken in probably the same amount of time that Charlie, James, and Matt, hadn't spoken. To say things were awkward with him around was the understatement of the year. Especially as everyone else seemed to purposefully not address the elephant in the room.

_Or as Dougie said the fat lady singing, _Rhuben thought with a half smile, knowing how Dougie would typically refer to Tom in that sense. _It's not like you've been going out of my way to talk to him either, boofhead, _she reminded herself. She didn't truly trust what she would say if she did. She wasn't identical to her sister to the point of flaring temper and yelling when she was annoyed, but God only knew what would happen.

"He said something about wanting to talk to you," Noah said. Rhuben immediately snapped to attention. "Well, he wants to talk to us five, but he wants to talk to you, too."

"So why didn't _he _tell me that?" Rhuben asked, eyebrow rising. She knew why.

Noah shrugged. "To gauge your reaction, I guess," he replied. "Sort of like when a girl wants to know if a guy likes her, yeah? So it's like when you lot get your friends to subtly drop hints or ask him themselves."

"I get it." Rhuben nodded as Ronan leaned out the door and called the bands inside so they could eat. Rhuben laughed as Dougie let out a loud whoop and raced inside, continuing to carry Riley over his shoulder as he went. "Let's go, bro." She looped her arm through his and the group headed inside to the back of a restaurant where four tables were pushed together to accommodate everyone.

Rhuben slid down into her seat, feeling her stomach clench when she realized her position put her right in front of Charlie. A frown crossed her face as she took in his appearance; he looked as good as he always did—which said a lot for his short lived modeling career—and not any worse for the wear. That sort of annoyed her. She knew she hadn't had the best upbringing and that had scarred her a bit, changed her appearance from the sweet smiling girl of when she was young to a hardened young woman. But he was in the rock music industry now and there were a lot of things that went down in here, he didn't look like any of that had affected him.

Compared to Matt who was in the pop music industry and fell down into a hard life of drugs and alcohol it was sort of ironic. The groups ordered their food and settled down into groups of conversation. Rhuben laced her fingers together and rested her chin on her hands as Riley, who was sitting to her right, immediately got to the point.

"So what'd you want to talk to us about?" She asked, bluntly. "Has to be important if you didn't want the others to hear."

"Sort of," Charlie said, clearing his throat. "More like I'm trying to get my thoughts together and it's good that I can sort it out through a neutral party." At that, Sydney snorted lightly and Charlie smiled. "I mean, I'm sure you and everyone else are getting tired of me and James fighting all the time."

"I hadn't really noticed," Patrick said sarcastically. "I mean, over the angry tension that's consistently fluttering over our heads."

"I know, mate. I'm sorry."

"Don't you think you should be saying that to someone else?" Rhuben found herself asking. When Charlie looked at her, a surprised flicker in his eyes, she kept her face neutral. A talent she had learned to do long before.

"I should," he agreed. "But, as I've said, there are some things I wanted to figure out first. And I'm afraid if I tried to talk to him now it would just end with the band breaking up again." He picked up the paper wrapped that had encased his straw and started to rip it into tiny pieces. "For a while I was actually jealous of you guys."

"I mean, there are loads of reasons why, mate," Noah teased. Then his expression grew serious. "But what reason is it this time?"

"Because I feel like you guys are the only ones that get it," Charlie admitted. Rhuben felt her face screw up and she turned to her siblings, seeing identical looks of befuddlement on their faces. "I mean, you're the ones that are doing the kind of music I wish I was doing right from the beginning. And you never really listened when people told you what to do with your music."

Riley let out a bark of laughter. "You're kidding right? Do you know how many times our songs or our performances had to be censored? We had one song written that we were going to perform and then because of the subject matter was told we weren't allowed to, yeah? So we then had to write a completely new song to be allowed to do it. I'd say we were stuck just as much as you were at times."

"Right, but you had a team that was backing you up or telling you why it wasn't a good idea to do it. With Busted it was James that was doing that. He was so incredibly…bullheaded about the songs we were doing and wanted to stick with that formula instead of branching out."

Sydney tilted his head. "You do realize that we've been changing our sound for years, though, right? Depending on what we've felt like doing at the time."

"That's exactly my point," Charlie agreed, pointing to him. "Your sound changes over and over because it's what you want to do at the time. But when I was in Busted I felt like I was in a rut and wasn't moving forward."

Rhuben winced. He just had to use the familiar words. The exact same words he had thrown into her face when they were arguing years before, when they had broken up. He thought he wasn't moving forward with Busted and wanted to drop it, Rhuben had then asked if that meant he thought she wasn't moving forward with _her _and wanted to drop her too. Before she knew it the two of them were yelling at each other, she was called an 'emotionless robot' for not seeing his side of things and she called him a 'coward' for wanting to give up too easily and not putting his foot down in airing his grievances.

And people said memories couldn't be painful. That hurt more than Robert punching her directly in the face after something she did or said that angered him.

"But James wouldn't listen so I went to some other people and started to play the songs I liked and always wanted to do. Matt sort of agreed with me but he also agrees with James saying he didn't want to rock the boat with the producers who wanted the kind of music they were putting out."

_And after that James had failed project after failed project, Charlie went into a successful band but couldn't shake his Busted past, and Mattie fell into drinking and drugs, _Rhuben thought. She wanted to remind him of that but she could see from the look in his eye that he knew.

"So what do you want us to do?" Riley asked. She leaned back as her burger was placed in front of her, thanking the waiter as he did so. "Do you want us to talk to James? Or have a house meeting or something?"

"I think at the moment your hands are a little tied keeping Dougie out of trouble," Noah teased.

"He's like a freaking puppy, I swear," Riley replied.

"Hey!" Pouting, Patrick turned to his eldest sister. "I thought you said _I _was like a little puppy."

"No, I said you were a loveable asshole, but I reckon it's not really that far off."

Rhuben rolled her eyes as Patrick beamed and tucked into his own food. The guy was so easy to please she wouldn't be surprised if he managed to live out the rest of his life with minimal possessions. Stretching out her legs, she started into her food, and then jerked them backwards when she realized she kicked Charlie in the shin. He glanced under the table then back up at her.

"I swear that was an accident," she said, nonchalantly popping a fry into her mouth. But a stronger kick well-placed a little bit higher probably wouldn't be.

"Right, because your little legs can reach all the way over here," he replied.

"It's not my fault that you take up the most space out of everyone just by sitting down," Rhuben shot back. She tilted her head, resting her cheek on her chin. "But if you want us to talk to the others then we can do that. No worries. But _you're _the one that has to talk to James." Charlie's upper lip curled in distaste. Rhuben ignored him and turned to Riley. "I'm sure we can finally get Mattie off the hook with this, but it may take him a bit to get that he can finally relax."

Riley nodded in agreement. "I think McFly and James would be harder to convince. Especially because McFly tried the same thing and it didn't work out for them."

"I thought that was because of the bum producers they were working with," Patrick pointed out.

"It was. But no one's going to remember that. They just remember the one album that they put out that wasn't as good as the others and drastically shied away from what they had been doing before."

"Ohh."

Charlie made a humming sound and dropped his hands to his lap. Then he picked up his fork and started to stir around the spaghetti on his plate. "I'll talk to James at some point. I just want to be sure he'll listen." He continued to absentmindedly stir before sitting up straight, staring down at his plate. He started to reach out for the salt and pepper, but Rhuben beat him to it, passing the two over. Charlie stared at her for a minute then nodded his thanks and went back to fixing his plate.

Rhuben sucked in a deep breath through her nose, drumming her left hand against her thigh. It was annoying; she thought after all that time they wouldn't ever be able to pick up where they left off.

And still she knew him perfectly.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for being so patient while waiting for this chapter to come out.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	22. Chapter 22

**.:Chapter Twenty-Two:.**

* * *

"Alright guys who wants to hear a new song tonight?" Patrick asked into his microphone, grinning at the response he received. "Well, it's not _that _new, we've been working on it since before the tour and we were working on it to be sure it could be released, yeah?"

"Way to tell the entire back story, Pat," Noah commented. "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don't ever get him to try and give a speech."

"That and because his crippling stage fright may make him mess things up even more than normal," Sydney added. He chuckled, flicking his hair from his face as he moved away from the keyboard he stood behind and took a violin a stage hand ran out to hand him. "So this song is a bit different than the ones we've done before but not entirely. We've done darker songs but this one has a really good message to it. It's a song that the five of us wrote with a lot of ideas from No in it." Riley and Rhuben motioned over to Noah, who smiled and waved his drumstick to the cheering crowd.

"I don't think a lot of people know that despite all of us writing our songs, Noah is the one that we really look to, to see how it turns out or to get ideas from, because he's really good at stringing thoughts and things together," Rhuben added.

Riley grabbed onto her microphone and twisted towards the back of the stage. "Aww, look at that, he's blushing." Laughing, she cleared her throat and held onto her guitar with both hands, gently twisting back and forth. "Like Syd mentioned, this song is like some of our darker ones but it has a great message to it that we think you'll enjoy. This is Hero."

After a few seconds of pause the siblings started the song with a blast of pyro techniques that caused the audience to immediately scream loudly. And in the audience it made Jacqui realize how happy she was she wasn't too close to the sage or else her eyebrows would've certainly been blown off. Not to say that being on tour was something she disliked, but having been on tour with her friends a few times she knew that going to see every show was not the best idea. Not only did other audience members start to recognize her and Gen (and Ashley and Katy whenever they had time to go to a show) but then they started to ask a bunch of questions about the bands that made things uncomfortable after a while.

Especially as she had found, over the years, that she and Gen had fans of their own. It wasn't entirely a bad thing, it was even funny, but she hadn't done anything that constituted having people ask for her autograph. Not yet anyway, she had high hopes of becoming a singer in her own right and it was going to happen. She had offers from Fletch, Jake, and Ronan to get some things done in the studio but politely turned it down, wanting to try her hand at making it on her own.

She turned back in as her friends started to sing, listening carefully to the words. It was a new song to her just as it was to everyone else, despite having demanded to know what it was they were going to be performing, over and over again.

"I'm just a step away, I'm just a breath away, losin' my faith today," Patrick and Noah sang.

"We're fallin' off the edge today," Riley and Rhuben jumped in next.

"I am just a man, not superhuman."

"I'm not superhuman."

"Someone save me from the hate."

Then Sydney jumped in with his brothers on the bridge of the song, standing close to his microphone but twisted his body away so that it wouldn't pick up and overtly amplify the sound of his violin, "It's just another war, just another family torn."

"We're falling from my faith today," Riley and Rhuben sang.

"Just a step from the edge, just another day in the world we live."

Then the five came together as they sang the chorus, their voices blending together perfectly. "I need a hero to save me now. I need a hero; save me now. I need a hero to save my life; a hero'll save me just in time."

Jacqui really did enjoy the song, thinking it certainly was one of the best her friends had come up with. And if she knew how ironic it was they had released the song that night, she probably would've laughed her ass off. As it was, it wasn't until later that night, or later that morning she pieced it together as it was about three o'clock when there was a knocking-scratching sound at the door of the girl's hotel room.

Jacqui's eyes immediately flung open as the scratching sound tuned to a thudding sound and she sat up. Gen, who sat at her side, was already leaning over to flick on the lamp and Riley practically vaulted out of the bed she and Rhuben were sharing. Rhuben, on the other hand, rolled in the opposite direction, pulling the blankets up over her shoulders. Nevertheless as the light turned on she took her glasses off the nightstand, sliding them on her face.

"What was that?" Gen gasped.

"Dougie," Rhuben said so matter-of-factly that Jacqui's eyebrows immediately slammed together. She brought up a hand and rubbed at her eyes. "Trust me, it's Dougie." She raised her voice to call to her sister as the door opened. "You know you don't always have to do this for him!" She called.

Jacqui and Gen looked at each other as there was a sudden grunting sound before the door closed. Getting up to the corner of the room, they watched, eyebrows coming rising when they spotted Riley rapidly shuffling backwards, barely holding Dougie in her arms as she did so. Blowing her hair from her face she looked up at her friends as she went.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?" She asked.

Dougie made a low grumbling sound. "I told you I didn't want to go on your magic carpet ride," he muttered before groaning. "Oh, I don't feel so good."

"That's what happens when you drink so much after a show, Dougs," Riley pointed out. She looked at Jacqui and Gen. "Help, please? I just need you to grab his feet, yeah? Take 'im into the toilet."

"Yeah, sure." Jacqui quick moved over and grabbed onto Dougie's feet, lifting them as high as she could. Dougie's body bent in half and his butt dragged across the floor as they went. Finally, Rhuben climbed out of bed, grabbing her phone, while Gen followed along behind them, watching. "What are you going to do?"

"Get him into a shower, get him some coffee, help him throw up," Rhuben said. "The usual." She reached out and brushed Dougie's hair off his forehead, then pulled up his eyelids to check his eyes. Dougie groaned and turned away from the sudden onslaught of light. "I hate to say it, but he's been getting like this for a while."

"And you've been keeping this form the other guys?" Gen asked. She tilted her head to the side, letting out a low breath. "You know that's not a good idea. At the beginning Tom thought they were breaking up all because the others kept it a secret they were smoking pot, remember? They need to know if he's getting this bad."

"It's not that bad," Riley said. She propped him up onto the lid of the toilet. "I don't think. If anything this doesn't happen all the time, usually he can find his way back to his hotel room just fine. Other times…I just let Harry know what's going on and have him deal with it." She leaned into the shower and turned it on before turning back to Dougie, holding his head up. "You have to stay awake, mate. Or else this hangover you're going to have will be the death of you. And you still have to go onstage tomorrow."

"He's not going to go onstage like that, Sis," Rhuben remarked. She reached over for a towel and stuck it in the sink, turning on the water. Once the corner was significantly dampened she moved to Riley's side and pressed it against Dougie's forehead and cheeks. "It looks like he might've been blackout this time."

"That's what I was hoping you wouldn't say, honestly," Riley said.

Gen sighed. "I'll go make some coffee," she muttered before leaving the room. Jacqui frowned, shaking her head. She wished she could say something about what was going on with Gen, why she was withdrawing so much despite being around the closest people in her life, but promised she wouldn't. It was promises like that, that were always the hardest to deal with when in such close quarters on something like a tour. Especially when it was clearly eating her up inside.

Jacqui had seen it happen when she had first met the Jacksons, noticing the way they reacted around anyone that had a beer. However, this time was definitely different. This was something that hadn't hurt her physically at all, but the pain was something that she was still having trouble dealing with. Jacqui watched as Riley carefully kept Dougie's head up as she removed his shirt and pants.

"If you wanted to strip me you just had to ask," Dougie slurred.

Riley chuckled. "Usually I didn't have to ask, you and the rest of the boys would do it just to get a laugh."

"I don't feel good," Dougie repeated.

Jacqui quickly moved forward and grabbed a wastebasket from beside the toilet and shoved it under Dougie's head before he leaned forward and threw up into it. Frantically, he grabbed the sides of the waste bin and continued to heave, body shaking rapidly as he continued to throw up. Finally, he pulled back and rested against the back of the toilet, nearly falling over as he did so. Riley grabbed Dougie under the arms and practically upended him into the tub, allowing warm water to fall over his face and chest, pooling at the bottom of the stall.

"I recon he'll be fine in a few minutes," Rhuben said, sitting down on the counter. She crossed her legs at the knee and lifted her chin, looking at Jacqui as she suddenly chewed her lower lip. "You okay, Jac-Jac?"

Jacqui looked up at Rhuben and started to chew a little bit harder. She couldn't keep it a secret much longer. _And maybe it doesn't have anything to do with him and just that Dougie really doesn't know where he's going when he's drunk. It's not anything that serious. And they'd understand. _She took a breath. _Maybe that's the problem. That they would understand and he'd freak out about it. It took him long enough to admit it in the first place._

"What's going on, Jac-Jac?" Riley pressed.

Jacqui sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips as she watched Dougie continued to sit at the bottom of the shower, head bent so far forward it looked grotesque. But he continued to gently slap the palm of his hand against the water pooling at the bottom of the tub. It gave her some assurance he was doing okay.

"Okay." She ran a hand through her hair. "I don't really know what's going on with Dougie right now. But I might have an idea." She took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "Way back, before we started on the tour, Dougie met up with his Dad." She watched as Riley's and Rhuben's face contorted into identical expressions of surprise. Then she heard a light gasp behind her and turned to find Gen standing in the doorway, holding a mug of coffee. "I don't know if it was the first time it happened or what but…he did meet up with Elliot. To be honest, though, I don't think he would've done it if it hadn't been drinking at the time."

"Wait a minute," Gen broke in. She closed her eyes briefly. "Was he drunk then or had he just been drinking a little?"

"Does it matter? Drinking that early in the morning isn't necessarily a good thing," Riley pointed out. She held up a hand, "I mean there are people that can handle it when they need to, but knowing Dougie if it _was _his Dad he met up with—and I'm not saying I don't believe you, mate—then this would make sense." She looked over as Rhuben made a humming sound. "What?"

For a moment, Rhuben was silent. She placed a hand to her hip, the other resting against the bathroom counter. "It must be a time where fathers may think it's a good idea to disrupt everything," she pointed out. "Because I have a feeling that Danny's Dad may be coming back into the picture, too." At the confused looks that came her way, Rhuben explained. "Every time he gets a phone call now, he screens it before hanging up most of the time. Not to mention I think I might've seen him talking to Ronan at the party after our first show. But I didn't see him after that."

"Sounds like you're right," Gen finally said. "Sounds like a lot of our pasts are starting to catch up with us." She handed the mug over to Jacqui and left the bathroom once more.

Jacqui was quick to explain things before she was asked, "Gen went through a rough time recently. I know what happened, but you need to wait for her to tell you. It's not my place."

"We understand," Riley said. She looked at her phone as it started to buzz. "But is everything okay with you?"

"Yeah, you look really stressed," Rhuben added. "And you've been sort of quiet since the show tonight. Which is very unlike you, missy."

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Trying to get some homework done, you know." She carefully placed the coffee on top of the closed toilet lid and motioned to the tub. "I'll keep an eye on Dougie to make sure he doesn't suddenly flop to the ground and pretend he's like a fish or anything."

"He does that in the park fountain once and he's branded for life," Rhuben laughed.

"You mean 'banned' not 'branded', Sis," Riley corrected her, smiling as well. Then her smile faded and she studied Dougie for a long moment. "No worries. Just let me know if you need any help. He can be pretty grabby when he's drunk. At least right he has an excuse for it."

Jacqui laughed to herself then perched on the side of the tub. She reached out and gently pushed Dougie's head to the side so that he looked up at her with his baby blues, eyes squinted. "You've really gotten yourself into a pickle this time," she pointed out.

"I'm not a pickle, I'm a cucumber," Dougie slurred. He thought for a minute. "No, I'm an apple pie. Soft and goofy." He laughed lightly. "My insides feel all warm but I feel all wet." Then he started to giggle before slumping over far enough that his head rested against the wall. "Am I drowning? I feel like I'm drowning. It wouldn't be fun to drown."

"You're in the shower, Dougie."

"How'd you manage to get me into the shower? I mean, I would totally do it but I'm that easy. Or am I? I don't know? How was the show? Hey that rhymes. Know, show, know, show." Then he frowned. "My Dad was a no show for most of my life. And he chooses now to come back and talk to me? Where was he before? Oh yeah, he was beating me and then he felt my family. He left my family, Jacqui. Who would do that?"

Jacqui continued to sit and listen as Dougie slurred through numerous topics, going over and over again until he got back to the topic of his father. Then he fell silent again before reaching up, holding out his hand. Jacqui looked at him for a long moment before she took his hand and he held it firmly.

"Thank you," he muttered. "For sitting here, for talking to me. I messed up."

"You didn't mess up," Jacqui reassured him.

"No. I did. I messed up. I messed up bad. I always mess up. But I have my friends to help me. Thank you." Dougie leaned the other way and rested his head against her leg, soaking her pajamas bottom. His lower lips stuck out slightly and Jacqui closed her eyes.

She hated this. Hated that she had to be in this position. Not because she didn't want to help him, but because of how she felt. Yes, she had dated Harry before but they grew up and things hadn't worked out. And it just didn't work out because she was realistic. Long distance relationships when she was already so busy with school were hard; not to mention she didn't see her family so much as it was. However, even then there was something about the bassist that had caught her eye. And yet she refused to say anything, because one of her best friends were dating him at the time, and because she felt guilty for having those feelings while they were dating and she was dating someone else.

And while he wasn't with anyone right now there was still the potential for awkwardness, especially as Harry had, sort of, made it clear that he wouldn't be opposed to starting things up again. And now here she was, trying to make a half naked Dougie feel better after he had gone and nearly drank himself into a stupor when his ex-girlfriend was the one that usually had that job.

"I'm getting cold," Dougie murmured.

Reaching out her hand, Jacqui eased her fingertips into the water to realize it had started to turn cold. "Alright." She turned off the faucet and grabbed a clean towel. She handed it to him and watched as he carefully wrapped it around himself and stood up. He wobbled for a second then climbed out of tub. He wrapped himself up in the towel, shivering slightly, and Jacqui handed him the mug of coffee before grabbing the end of the towel and walked him out of the bathroom.

"How's he doing?" Gen asked in concern, looking over from the book in her hands.

"Fine, he hasn't fallen over yet," Jacqui commented. Then she laughed. "Though at one point he convinced himself he was a cucumber waiting to be pickled."

"That's probably the least concerning thing I've ever heard him say while drunk, honestly," Rhuben commented. She rested her chin in her hand. "And that's after hearing him go through his entire spiel about why gerbils are going to team up with cockroaches and take over the Earth."

"You know, I really want him to write a book," Gen commented. "I'm really interested to see the sorts of things he'd come up with. Just listening to him speak now sounds like gibberish half the time but there's a story in there somewhere." She smiled, folding her hands in her lap. "So what are we going to do with him tonight?"

"For now, we're going to let him sleep it off," Riley stated. She stripped hers and Rhuben's bed of the comforter and a pillow and dropped them down between the two beds, direction Dougie over to it. She took his coffee from his hands and set it on the bedside table before motioning for him to lie down. "I swear if you try to crawl into bed with us again we'll punch you in the kidneys," She warned him even though Jacqui could hear the amusement in her voice."

"Okay." Dougie lay down on the floor and curled up into a ball with his blanket. "Thank you, Riley, I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, I love you, too," Riley replied.

Jacqui frowned but didn't put much thought to it. Not more than a few, anyway. They said it to each other all the time. It wasn't a big deal. Or maybe now it was a big deal because she wasn't lying to herself anymore. The rest of the night was sleepless for her; tossing and turning as she tried to clear her mind. But no. This was the problem with touring so much; you slept on a bus, did a show, went to a hotel to sleep, then got on the bus and did it all over again. Sleeping patterns were messed up and being around the same people for so long did nothing but cause cabin fever at times.

And it gave her too much to think about.

So much that by the time they were all getting up to go to the next city her eyes were burning and no matter how much makeup she put on to cover it didn't help. She was at least glad they had separate buses so that she would have more time away from everyone and time to figure things out for herself with no outside pressure. Of course God seemed to have other plans because while everyone had just finished breakfast and were gathering their things together to get on the bus, Ronan stopped them.

"Oh Syd, before we go," Ronan said, as if he had just suddenly remembered something. He started to smile. "I have a surprise for you."

The fifteen year old stopped, eyebrows lowering over his eyes. His eyes shifted back and forth before he gauged the reactions of his friends' and family's faces; apart from those who looked tired—and Dougie who looked like absolute crap—they appeared just as curious. "A surprise?" He repeated. "For what? What is it?"

"More importantly, why don't _we _get any surprises?" Patrick asked, planting his hands on his hips indignantly.

Ronan chuckled, his eyes shining. "You have one coming, too. But this one's for Syd." He turned back towards the buses and pointed at a cab that had pulled up alongside it. The door to the cab opened and a fifteen year old girl climbed out of the backseat, pulling her hair out of her face.

Sydney grinned and started to run over to her. "Anna!" He called.

"Syd!" Anna called back, throwing her arms around his neck as the two hugged.

"Sorry," Matt said, raising a hand in the air. "Who's Anna?"

"Oh, she's Syd's girlfriend," Riley explain. Her eyes widened when all eyes suddenly turned towards her. "What? You didn't know he had a girlfriend by now?"

"Better yet," Rhuben commented. "She's one of our backup dancers." With that, her nose wrinkled. "I thought they weren't coming in until the second half of the tour," She pointed out to Ronan.

"Yeah," Noah agreed. "Are the rest coming as well?"

"Not for a while, no," Ronan explained. His eye shifted over to his youngest son. "But I could see that it might've been a good idea for someone his own age to be around so I extended the invitation and here she is."

"Yeah," Anna agreed her arm still around Sydney's waist. "I'm going to be hanging out for a while before the others get here. I hope that's okay? It's good to finally meet the famous McFly and Busted lads you lot have been talking about, yeah?"

"It's good to have you aboard," Jake agreed. He looked at his watch. "And I hate to break through this lovely reunion but we do need to get going so that we can get to the venue on time for sound check and everything. And don't forget that you have interviews with news media to throw in as well. So I need you all to be on time for once."

"So in other words we're going to be late like we always are," Harry said, getting a laugh from his friends. He gave a thumbs up. "Got it. Let's go so we can get back to sleep. I was interrupted from my dream where I won the Marathon and I need to get back to it for bragging rights."

"It's not _real_, mate," Tom pointed out.

"Not yet, it's not."

Those words suddenly struck Jacqui and she looked over at Dougie as he picked up his bag and hoisted it over his shoulder, nearly halving himself as he did so. Matt reached out an arm and held him up as they went to the bus.

Then Jacqui tilted her head back and looked at the sky. "Okay, okay," she muttered. "I get it."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for being so patient while waiting for this chapter to come out. School stuff. For anyone who may think that Jacqui's feelings for Dougie came out of nowhere, it isn't. Since this is at a later age of the McFly/JML stories I have written before, it consistently references everything from when they were younger (in their teens specifically) and it had been referenced there.

**-Riles**


	23. Chapter 23

**.:Chapter Twenty-Three:.**

* * *

Something that people didn't understand about the Jacksons was that while they spent a lot of time together as a band, they also had to set time aside to hang out as a family. To just sit back and have fun as they always did when they were together. But doing that in a close quartered environment for hours on tour made things very difficult at times. As a matter of fact, a simple card game could easily blow up into them yelling at each other until they went off into their own corners to cool off.

From where Rhuben was sitting it didn't seem like cooling off was going to happen this time; Patrick was constantly on his phone, Noah was quieter than ever—and when someone asked he would shrug and say he was fine before going back to digging his finger into the carpet—and Riley and Sydney were arguing back and forth. For a minute Rhuben was surprised and unsure of what the fight was about—mostly because Sydney rarely ever fought with them—and then tried to get them to at least stop even if she thought Sydney was a little right.

"If Dougie's going to keep calling you, just answer it," Sydney said, slapping his hand of cards down onto the coffee table as Riley finally put her phone on silent. "You know you want to. You practically leap for your phone every time it rings."

"Because I'm hanging out with you guys and Dougie doesn't always get my attention," Riley shot back. Rhuben could already hear the tone of annoyance in her twin's voice switch to a dangerous one.

"Are you sure about that?" Sydney's eyebrows rose.

Rhuben held up her hands, ignoring Patrick suddenly looking up from his phone to get a good look at her cards. Phase10 was one of the card games they could get really into and would very easily sabotage each other for. Considering it had been their next obsessive game to play after the Uno incident from the last tour, it was at least a step down. "Guys, calm down. Let's just play the game, okay? It's not that serious."

And she didn't like the way Sydney's tone of voice was turning snide. Yes, he was very smart, and yes he was very perceptive, and yes he was right about what he was saying, but that didn't mean he had to throw it out like that. Especially considering it only started with Riley's explanation of what Ronan, Fletch, and Jake had said about their schedule for the next few days, with Sydney commenting she needed to add 'looking after Dougie' into it. Was it her fault she explained to the boys what had happened?

"Can we just get back to the game?" Rhuben added, waving her hand. "Noah's really close to getting to phase 10, somehow,"—Noah smiled at Rhuben's comment, he really seemed to have been able to win each round within a few minutes of starting—"and I don't know about you, but I'm tired of him winning."

"We could play more if Pat would get off his freaking phone!" Riley snapped towards him. He held up his palm in a 'talk to the hand' gesture, which made Riley rolled her eyes.

Sydney took the bait and smiled sweetly at Riley, making his dimples appear. Rhuben sighed, rubbing her forehead, instantly recognizing the mischievous glint in his eye. "Why? Are you the only one who can be on their phone?"

"If you want to talk to Anna so badly, why don't you do it instead of getting on my ass?" Riley snapped towards him.

"Unlike you, I don't have to constantly be in contact with her," Sydney replied smoothly. Even this made Noah lift his head and stare at Sydney in surprise.

"Little Man, I'm warning you—"

Rhuben huffed and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips for a moment before lifting her head once more. "Guys, knock it off."

"Fine, I'll get off," Patrick said. His little joke at least raised the tension a little bit as he tossed his phone aside. And it was funny; it made Rhuben laughed as was his tactic. Patrick usually was able to make anyone laugh with very little effort on his part. Unfortunately he had to continue with, "It's not like it's my child."

"More like a puppy," Sydney remarked. He cleared his throat and leveled his gaze with Riley's. "Rhu-Rhu says that you didn't know that Dougie's Dad was talking to him but Jacqui knew. That must've hurt."

"Syd," Rhuben said in a low, warning tone. Sydney looked directly at her and her eyes narrowed. "Knock it off!" At his innocent shrug Riley rolled her eyes, threw her cards down onto the floor, got up, and stormed out of the room as if a fire was chasing her. Noah, exasperated, threw his hands in the air and Patrick pouted, looking down at his hand as he muttered a quiet, "and I was going to win, too."

Now Rhuben glared at Sydney and he shrugged. "Was it something I said?" He then motioned in the direction that his eldest sister went. "It's not like I didn't say what everyone was thinking. You wanted to say it, too."

She didn't know what to say to that. Her twin and Dougie were best friends and as much as she knew _why _Riley would go to help him whenever he asked or called for her attention, she couldn't understand _how_ she could and not tell Jake, Fletch, or Ronan. _Then again, we're not the sort of people that like to get help rather than give it, _she reminded herself. If anything it was a conversation topic that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

But it was Sydney's reaction that had surprised hr the most. Sure there were a lot of things he saw that others didn't but his speaking like that to Riley or even any of the rest of his siblings was unheard of. The last time she could remember he had done it was when he was growing frustrated and increasingly scared with Robert still around and demanding to know why none of them would tell what was going on. He understood the risks of being split apart but he was dead-set on having a happier life.

So what was it this time?

The questions continued to run through Rhuben's head as she walked to the room Tom and Danny were sharing and knocked on the door. She knocked a few more times, not receiving an answer each time, then pulled her phone out of her pocket to text him. Once the text went through she knocked again. "Tom? Are you in there?"

She placed her hands on her hips and frowned. _Looks like everyone is acting weird today, _she thought. She and Tom had made explicit plans to hang out in his room and watch some movies on his laptop and just hang out, to wind down a little. He wasn't one to normally forget. Looking at her phone and seeing no text in response she tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, letting out a low breath.

She looked out of the corner of her eye as a shadow fell over her and she found Danny standing next to her, craning his neck to look at the ceiling, too. "Is there something up there I should be looking for?" He asked.

Shaking her head, Rhuben lowered her chin. "No, I'm just a little annoyed. I was going to hang out with Tom but hes not answering the door or of his mobile."

"Yeah, he hasn't been answering me either," Danny agreed. And true to Danny's form, he didn't appear so worried about it. "I wanted to see if he wanted to hang out, too. Oh well. He probably fell asleep watching Disney movies again." He took the soccer ball that rested against his rip and spun it in his hands. As he continued to spin it, he looked over at Rhuben, his blue eyes meaningful. "I was just about to go play a little footy if you want to come."

He waved the ball towards her like a hot pastry. "I'll go easy on you."

"Sounds good to me." Rhuben put her phone back into her pocket then poked him in the chest. "And you don't need to go easy on me, I'm going to kick your ass anyway."

"Unlike most people, I'd enjoy that, love."

Danny led the way to the elevator and through the lobby and out to the park area set up down a small side path. Rhuben immediately checked her shoes to be sure she didn't walk through dog-doo while Danny placed the soccer ball on the ground and started to kick it back and forth between his feet before rolling it atop and juggled it from his feet to his knees. He then knocked the ball to his head and used a header to pass it over to Rhuben. With the swift way he tilted his head to jerk it her way, she knew he was trying to catch her off-guard. But she backed up a few paces and trapped the ball with her chest, bringing it down to her knees then her feet. As she juggled the ball back and forth between her feet, she noticed Danny suddenly run her way and she placed her foot atop the ball, pulling it backwards.

Rhuben chased after the ball with Danny running at her side, keeping pace with her so that he could watch for his chance to retrieve possession of the ball. And the two continued to run back and forth, shoving each other to get to the ball. Finally Danny managed to stick his leg between Rhuben's and took the ball back from her. He ran it down field and kicked it hard sending the ball flying between two poles of the fence, striking the chain link with precision.

"Goal!" He cheered running back and forth, arms spread out to resemble an airplane. He even went as far as to slid down on the ground on his knees. "And the crowd goes wild. Striker Jones has made another goal to pull the UK ahead of Australia."

Chuckling, Rhuben jogged over to the ball and grabbed it. She passed it back and forth in her hands and rolled it over to Danny. She looked back and forth to make sure she was centered within the goal posts and crouched ever so slightly. "Bet you can't do that again."

Danny's grin was infectious as he placed his hands on his hips and looked towards the ground. One thing Rhuben could say she really admired about him was how he was always up for a challenge with a smile. _He could probably go up to a firing squad and go down smiling, _she added. He was definitely the best person to be the front man for his band, based on personality and talent alone. And for a moment she briefly wondered why they weren't still together—distance aside.

He made her laugh and smile with little ease and did find ways to make her feel good when she was feeling a bit down. His laughter always made her smile. But there was just something about Danny that was so intense that frightened her sometimes. Not to mention the other thing that she had been afraid of that tore them apart.

Danny shuffled his feet back and forth, making a show of his fancy footwork, bounced once, ran forward and shot the ball towards the goal with a strong kick of his foot. He had given away where he was going to go. Rhuben watched as he lifted his gaze towards the top left corner of the fence just as his foot connected with the ball and she leapt in the direction, easily batting the ball away with her fists. The ball rolled back towards Danny and he follow up with a calculated and very smart attempt at the bottom right corner.

Anticipating it, Rhuben, once she landed on her feet after he first save, pivoted and dove to the ground back in the other direction. Opening her arms, she caught the ball against her chest and curled around it, in case Danny would come running in for another shot.

"Whoa!" Danny's eyes lit up as he clapped his hands. "Nice save, love! I don't think I've seen anything like it. That was amazing."

"If you haven't seen anything like it, then you haven't been watching enough women's soccer." Rhuben found herself smiling as she stood up, still holding onto the ball. "Or you were _watching _but not the actual game, yeah?'

"You can read my mind."

"It's easy when there's not much in there to go through."

"Ouch! Hit me while I'm down! Hit me where it hurts! You can be really cruel." Clasping his hands over his chest, Danny staggered backwards, making a show as if he had been stabbed with a long knife. "It hurts. It hurts."

"I've said worse things to you, Rat Boy. You couldn't have forgotten already." Laughing to herself, Rhuben rested the soccer ball in front of her stomach, walking towards him. "Like your eyes are too close together, you have a hyena laugh; I'm still _so_ confused as to how you think eggs are bloody vegetables." She reached out and took his hat off his head. "And I think you're starting to go bald."

With that, she shoved his hat into his chest along with the soccer ball. Danny brought his hands up and held them over hers, looking into her eyes. His smile faded a little as he took a step towards her. Instinctively, Rhuben took a step back, shaking her head.

"Don't," She warned him.

"Don't what?" Danny continued to smile.

"Don't…do what I know you're going to do. You're going to say something sweet or flirty or even grab my ass. And you're going to mention something about why we're not still together or how you missed me or that you want to make out with me. Or cuddle if you're drunk, which I'm _not _making that mistake again."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You throw up in someone's hair once and you're branded for life."

Still, she kept her eyes locked on his. "Don't mess this up, Danny. I love being your friend but I don't…" she trailed off, shaking her head. An image of Charlie's face popped into her head and her nose wrinkled. Her brain was really starting to annoy her lately. "Relationships are strange. I mean, you're with one person a while; spending a lot of time together. And then it stops and things change."

Blinking in confused, Danny dropped his hand from hers. "Where'd you hear that?"

She was going to say he really needed to read a book, but didn't. This was a conversation they needed to have for a while and it wouldn't help if they started joking around again. Danny seemed to understand that to, for his face turned serious.

"So what happened with us?" He asked the question hesitantly, losing the bravado he was famous for.

She shrugged. "We stopped."

"You broke up with me."

"Because I knew you were getting bored."

"You didn't give me a chance to get bored of you, love." Danny looked at her seriously. He didn't mean the statement to be rude, but to be honest. And that's how Rhuben took it; she took it honestly and without offense.

She brushed her purple strand of hair behind her ear and thought for a minute. This was something she knew for a while and wasn't sure how to express. At least now was a good time to do it. "I could tell you were starting to get bored, Danny. I've seen the way you were with other girls, with one night stands…I know you better than you think. You're terrified of commitment, Dan. All because of your parents' divorce. I think I understand that more than you give me credit for, boofhead." She reached out and lightly tapped him on the forehead.

Now she took a few steps back, giving the two of them space. They were silent for a long time and Rhuben finally said, "You know, I've always wanted to know. How come you call me 'love'? You don't call Riles anything other than her normal nickname?"

"Honestly?" At Rhuben's nod, Danny grinned; as if glad the conversation topic had changed. "For a bit I couldn't tell you two apart. I called you both 'love' at the beginning, but the way you reacted to it was different." He shrugged. "And it felt right." He paused as Rhuben suddenly frowned and looked away from him.

Something weird, a strange feeling had washed over her. And unlike others where she was able to ignore it for a short period of time, this was a feeling she was unable to suppress.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"I had a weird feeling," Rhuben muttered. She looked up to find Danny walked towards her, arm out to put it around her shoulders and she quickly brought up her hand, stiff-arming him against the chest. "I said I had a feeling, Danny, not that I was cold." Rhuben's eyebrows lowered and she chewed her lower lip. Then, frustrated, she scratched the side of her neck. "I don't know what it is...but I feel like something's wrong."

* * *

James poked his head out onto the balcony and his eyes shifted back and forth from Matt to Charlie, who turned to him. Smoke twisted and twirled from the end of their cigarettes and wafted towards him, almost accusingly.

"Sorry, I thought the night security guard was out here," James explained. "I wanted to talk to him for a few minutes."

"You always did get inspiration from some of the strangest places," Charlie remarked. He stuck the cigarette back into his mouth and breathed in deeply, making the end of his cigarette glow red. His shoulders slumped and he made a face as James replied, "I wasn't the one that wanted to write a song about peaches."

"Technically he didn't write it, we just did a cover of it," Matt said, coming to Charlie's rescue. He then took another drag some of his cigarette and threw it on the ground, crushing it under his foot. "But I do get your point. Somehow James does have a way of talking to anyone about anything and getting a good song out of it."

James smiled and sat down in a chair on the other side of the balcony, away from the smoke coming his way. "What can I say? I like to talk to people." He was sure Charlie was going to chime in with a snide comment but he decided to stay silent, turning away. Instead, James turned his attention to Matt. "I thought you quit smoking."

"I've been trying, mate," Matt replied. He shrugged. "It's been a lot harder than anything else I've ever managed to cut out. But…I keep getting brought back into this." He sniffed. "I've managed to change to cigars every now and then but it's not the same."

"Just as long as you can continue to run back and forth across stage, right mate?" James said. He and the other two started to laugh a little at the memory of Matt on stage the night before. They had broken out into the song Year 3000 and the three had started to race back and forth onstage, hyping up the crowd, when Matt tripped and face planted on stage before rolling off into the audience.

"Okay, okay, it wasn't _that _funny," Matt defended himself. "I've got the bruise on my shins to prove it. And I think my bass dented my forehead." He reached up to prod at the spot while James and Charlie continued to laugh.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat it so hard," Charlie said, still laughing. He reached out and patted Matt on the shoulder. "One minute I look over and the next minute I see the crowd swarming him."

"Yeah…I never got that shirt back," Matt agreed.

James caught Charlie's eye and the two laughed harder at Matt's plight. He merely grinned and watched as his friends laughed. Matt was one who wasn't embarrassed very easily and typically did wacky things to get a laugh out of everyone else. Finally, James calmed down, wiping tears away from his eyes.

"But it's a good thing I caught you guys. I was talking to Fletch earlier and he said there's been a lot of positive reaction with our fans online and at the shows," James explained. He cleared his throat and rubbed at the knees of his shorts. "But articles have been posted online from different sources saying that our band was one of the best ones that had gone through UK music. Other than the Beatles of course."

"Are these fan accounts or legit magazines?" Charlie asked. He looked a little skeptical.

James held his breath. He knew part of Charlie's reason for leaving the band—apart from their disagreements on music—had been because he was young when he first started the band, in his teens, and was unsure about how he was being perceived by everyone around him. And it had become toxic, he hated that publishers and magazines were consistently calling him part of a boy band and didn't respect their music and bailed.

It wouldn't be good if the same sites were the ones that were helping him now. "They're a lot of different sites and magazines that are saying it," James explained. "And as far as I can see there are a lot of people who are upset they're not going on this tour to see us play live. I mean, it's been years man."

"I know."

Matt sniffed loudly once more. "What else did Fletch say?"

"That the profits from tickets have marginally—"

"Oh, you got Fletched didn't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I stopped listening after the first ten minutes, but I've figured out a few things from what he said. Mostly that we've been getting some really good feedback from it and that there may be an opportunity to expand that even further if we wanted."

He looked at Charlie again, who stared at the ground, listening to what James had to say. He nervously flicked his cigarette back and forth between his fingers then brought it to his lips once more. Silence continued to wage between them as he sucked in hard and blew the smoke out through his mouth and nose. Then he shook his head and turned away.

"Why don't we just work out what's going on with the band now rather than focusing too much on the future," Matt suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Charlie said quickly.

James smiled and nodded, finding that he felt the same way. "Yeah, sounds good."

* * *

Tom took in a deep breath and pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. He rocked back and forth on his bed, trying to ignore the buzzing of his phone beside him. He couldn't force himself to do it, couldn't even force himself to get out of bed and even answer the door when someone came by. Danny had tried to coax him into going out to play some footy with him and he didn't want to.

He didn't want to get up, didn't want to leave his bed, didn't want to see his friends. Or else he was afraid of what was going to come out of his mouth, afraid of the pain that would come spilling out. He had been fine at the beginning of the tour and was having a blast. And all of a sudden it went shooting down over the past couple of days. It had been such a drop in mood that it made his head spin and left a crushing weight atop him that he was having trouble pushing off.

It continued to weigh down on him, pressing air out of his lungs, made his head throb, his heart pound, and gave him the distinct feeling of wanting to cry.

The worst part was the suffocating feeling was the accompanied sensation that nothing was worth it.


	24. Chapter 24

**.:Chapter Twenty-Four:.**

* * *

Tom groaned and opened his eyes. He sat up and turned to face the girls that sat across from him, nearly falling off his couch as the bus went over a large bump in the road. "Could you quiet down a little? The only reason I decided to go on this bus was because it was quieter. The last thing I want to hear is how _big _you think some male celebrities are."

"Of course you wouldn't want to hear it, Tom," Gen teased from the other couch where she was curled up reading a book. She held a chocolate bar loosely in her hand and shook it at him. "You've been around enough of them to know for sure instead of having to guess and gossip about it."

Tom gave her a look in response and she giggled. "What else do you guys do in the locker room?" She smirked, waiting for his response.

His eyes widened as he thought about it. "Burp, whack each other with rolled up towels, and do everything in our power _not _to look."

"Ah, well, you're missing out."

Riley smirked, her eyes flashing mischievously. "Why do you think I like going on tour with a bunch of blokes so much?" She laughed and gave Rhuben a high-five as she laughed as well. Their similar laughter harmonizing made everyone else crack up as well.

Jacqui was the first to sober from her laughter, holding up her hands defensively. "I'm sorry, but the usual conversation topics I have while you guys are on tour is music, music, music, songwriting, how much my feet hurt, and how hungry I am," Jacqui commented. "I need to have something more to fulfill my needs." She turned and looped her arm through Rhuben's before the two tipped their heads back and dropped candy into their mouths. She then turned to Riley and asked, "How's that Twizzler straw coming along?"

Tom smiled and turned to Riley who sat on the ground along with Jacqui and Rhuben, holding a can of soda that had a partially bitten piece of licorice sticking out the top. She frowned after taking another long sip then shrugged. "It doesn't work as well as I thought it would, but it tastes great." As if to prove her point she pulled the candy out of her soda can and took a giant bite out of the end. Then her smile faded and she rested her chin in her hand.

"What's up?" Tom reached out and gently nudged her in the back with his foot. "Normally even the sight of candy can make you bounce off the walls with excitement and as much sugar as you've managed to put down your throat."

"Coming from the person who hasn't even gotten into a tiny bit of his candy yet?" Rhuben asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a pointed look. "We try to be nice and share our stash with you and you don't have the decency to try any?"

"Considering I don't know how long you've kept the bloody stuff, I think I'm doing myself a favor," Tom pointed out. He turned his attention back to Riley, who rolled her eyes and said, "I got into a fight with Syd. About Dougie and…" she trailed off as Rhuben stared at her and Jacqui looked away, busying herself with a handful of M&amp;Ms. "How I shouldn't help him with stuff so much."

Tom looked at her calmly. That was the same sort of conversation that he, Danny, and Harry had years before. It made sense when they were first starting out their band, Dougie was only 15 and his father had just left him so he had no father figure to help him out with things. And that's where the rest of the band came in. They helped him figure out how to make a bank account, how to drive, to get his license, and car insurance. They were with him when he bought his first car, they taught him how to shave, how to set up doctor's appointments so he could get physicals done as well as receive contacts. Anything that a father should've been there for and the boys were there.

_Plus his home life wasn't so easy so that his mother could be there as well, _Tom reminded himself. He didn't know what he would've done if his parents split up and he was the one making money for his family. Leaving Carrie alone would've killed him more than knowing his mum would be all alone.

Still, they were older now and it wasn't like Dougie hadn't managed to come in on his own. "You know he's right," he remarked. He immediately leaned out of the way as Riley threw her hands into the air.

"I _know _he's right! He's _always _right!" She pouted. "But the little booger doesn't have to be so damn condescending about it."

"Whoa, you're getting too many negative vibes around here." Jacqui started to wave her hands around. "Don't' forget this is the bus of positivity, I don't accept yelling, loud talking, and all around general bad attitudes."

"It's _our _bus," Rhuben pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm your guest and this is why you keep me around."

"And because I don't know anyone else who has such an extensive knowledge about the Harry Potter series as you," Gen pointed out. She tapped her pen against her chin. "Oh and not to mention you have an amazing singing voice that beats out more than what we hear on the radio. _You _should have your own career."

"Yeah and pigs'll fly." Jacqui rolled her eyes. She got up and dramatically held her arms in the air. "Speaking of, I'm in the mood for some Harry Potter Quidditch action!" She started to run to the back of the bus as if she held a broom between her legs. "This way, Mr. Potter!"

"Considering your hair and eye color shouldn't you be Harry?" Rhuben called after her.

"Let's go, Cho Chang!"

Tom laughed as Riley gave an exasperated sigh and got up from the floor, before dissolving into laughter with her friends. "That makes me Draco, right?"

"I mean, you and Tom Felton are always being mixed up with each other. Better get used to it, yeah?" Rhuben pointed out. Then she leaned over and gave Tom a big bear hug. "But you're much cuddlier of course." Tom laughed again as she ruffled her hair then stretched out across the couch once more. He rested his arms behind his head and looked at Gen curiously. He felt his cheeks redden and a squirming in his stomach as he studied her.

She as so engrossed in her book that she didn't seem to notice him staring.

"You know you've been really quiet since tour started," Tom said. He said it so loudly and suddenly that Gen flinched before turning to face him. She pushed her wavy hair back out of her face, training her light brown eyes on his. For a moment he found himself staring into her eyes then cleared his throat. "I-I mean every other time you were on tour with us you were just as energetic and fun-filled as those three." He chuckled. "I mean the four of you are practically inseparable and you seem kind of left out."

Gen thought for a minute, gently holding her place in her book with her finger. Then she turned to face him completely. "I don't feel left out," She explained. "Not more so than it's that I feel like I need some space to myself." She gave a gentle smile. "I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have come on tour with you guys."

"Oh, we're not doing that badly," Tom teased. Though inside he was a bit confused. "Even Fletch says that the buzz of Busted being on tour with us is spreading pretty far over Twitter and Facebook and you know how much of a dinosaur Fletch can be about these things."

Gen laughed. "Yeah, I remember. He was the one that didn't really grasp the point of actively checking his email, either. Preferring to have things done over the phone." She tapped her knee before snapping to try and jog her memory. "That was the same thing that happened after the show in New York. Where you guys got—ah!" Her eyes lit up as she pointed at him. "Where you guys got stranded in California because Fletch didn't have a bus lined up and didn't know to get another one."

She started to laugh again, this time a harder, longer lasting laugh. That made Tom chuckle as well. "It wasn't that funny," he remarked. "You didn't have to worry about Dougie scaring everyone half to death with his stupid stories of strange monsters and people getting kidnapped off of highways."

"Have you ever met Dougie? Haven't you seen his flat?" Gen pointed out. "He gave you a _shrunken head _as a good luck charm for your birthday a few years ago."

"And yet you didn't have a little kid attached to your back by your neck because he was so terrified of being taken," Tom pointed out. "As Syd said 'they always want the cute ones'." He used air quotes around the words and ran his hands over his face. "That night was actually pretty fun. Tour always has some great memories like that."

Gen smiled and turned away.

"Which makes me worried that you're not having a lot of fun," Tom added.

He wanted to reach out and place his hand atop hers, but was too far away to do so. Instead, he moved to the couch beside her, noticing that she shifted away from him. As if she didn't want to touch him. _Okay, so it's not just you, _Tom thought, chewing his lower lip. She was avoiding him.

Okay, so being on tour with an ex could be hard, but everyone else seemed to have been able to get over it and the dated a long time ago. Almost ten years. There were plenty of other boyfriends and girlfriends in between and tours and appearances and achievements that they all helped each other celebrate. And every time Gen had been around she and Tom had great conversations. But now, it was like he had to work incredibly hard just to get her to smile at him or even acknowledge him a little.

"I know before that you guys used to work for the Jacksons but now you're here as our friends. You should be having a blast every night."

Gen chewed her lower lip for a second. Then she took a deep breath and admitted, "Well, I guess the timing just wasn't so great this time around. I was dealing with some stuff before we left." She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I thought going on the tour would take my mind off it. It's not really working."

"Oh. I'm sorry." _Okay, Tom, you're a bit of a jerk trying to make her happy if something was this wrong. Just…don't push her further away now. _He shifted his feet and found himself stepping on a chocolate bar. He grimaced and quickly pulled his fat back to scrape caramel off the bottom of his foot, stomach growling as he did so. He managed to ignore the feeling by grabbing a nearby water bottle and downed half of it. "Was it something that bad?"

"Sort of."

"Did you break-up with your boyfriend?"

Gen's breath caught her in her throat and Tom noticed a flash of panic go through her eyes. Or maybe it wasn't panic. Her eyebrows came together so quickly and her eyes lifted towards Tom's forehead to avoid look into her eyes. A sure sign of heartbreak. He had seen that exact look when his little sister's latest boyfriend had broken up with her.

"Something like that," She whispered.

"Well…we're leaving London soon, going to South America. There'll be more things to take your attention away from him. I'm really sorry about what happened though." Gen didn't respond. She turned and looked out the window, carefully wiping at her eyes. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No. It's not you. It's…it's nothing."

Tom cleared his throat and ran his hands along the legs of his shorts. "Well, this might not be the best time to ask, but the next place we stop, do you want to hang out a little? We haven't really had some time to catch up. I want to hear how your studies are going."

He held his breath as Gen looked at him for a long moment. There were still tears in her eyes but they weren't as welled up as they had been before. Finally she managed a small smile—enough to make Tom mentally grin—and asked, "Weren't you the one that didn't want anyone's company not so long ago?"

Tom pressed his lips together.

That was true

He wasn't even sure what it was that was wrong. But he had an overwhelming, almost crippling, sense of not wanting to do anything or go anywhere. He actually felt pretty bad when he heard Danny and Rhuben calling his name to hang out. Especially having passed on a chance to sit back and watch a bunch of Disney movies. But there was a crushing…feeling in his chest that kept him from being able to move so far from his bed.

And from what Danny had told him the two had a good time anyway. Not that Tom wasn't going to hear it anyway, later when he had felt better Rhuben came by to check on him and the two talked about her and Danny playing soccer. And he had asked if they were going to get back together. He seriously doubted it; not even when they had recorded an album and done a tour in Australia where Danny flirted up a storm with her—as usual—did he make any progress. But he had to ask any way to settle his own curiosity. And to keep any unwanted attention and potential questions of how he was feeling away from him.

"I just wasn't in a good mood," Tom explained.

"So you'll understand why I don't think us hanging out would be a good idea," Gen agreed. Finally, she dog-eared her page and closed her book. "I'm just not in a good mood." Tom closed his mouth and nodded. "It's nothing personal, Tom. I'd really like to catch up with you, there's a lot that's been going on and some of my studies I'm sure you'd be interested in. Just not right now, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure. I understand." Tom stood up as Gen got up as well. Then regretted the decision as the bus took a sharp turn and he and Gen were knocked off their feet and back onto the couch. They sat on the couch in stunned silence before they burst out into loud laughter. "I guess I forgot that part of being on tour. I should've warned you."

"Don't worry about it. I've nearly fallen out of my bunk so many times that I've managed to rig a contraption to keep me in for this tour." Gen sat up Indian-style and rested her hands in her lap. "Good thinking huh? One too many dreams interrupted where I fell to the ground made me figure out what to do."

Tom rubbed the back of his head. "I hope the dreams weren't _that_ good." Then his face reddened when he realized what he had just said. But Gen didn't seem offended. She actually laughed again. "I didn't mean it like that. It just came out. A product of being around the others guys so much, I guess."

"I don't know, I think being woken up out of a dream where my textbooks suddenly grew teeth and tried to eat me, like a piranha, is a good enough dream to come out from," Gen said. She even wiggled her fingers to add to the spookiness of the dream. Something gleaming caught Tom's eye and he grabbed her hand. "Okay, I didn't say the dream was _that _scary. I'm fine now."

Tilting his head to the side, Tom studied the ring that sat on Gen's left hand. It wasn't too expensive of a cut but he recognized good rings when he saw them. His father had gotten his and Carrie's input on jewelry for his mother many times. "Is this an engagement ring?"

Gen's giggle made Tom relax a little. "No, it's just a regular ring. I couldn't fit them on any of my other fingers so I put it there. You'd be surprised how many people are quick to think I'm getting married."

"Yeah, but it's still a bloody nice ring."

"It was a Christmas gift."

"Ah."

Now Gen's eyebrow rose and she gave him a playful smile. "You mean you've never given a really expensive gift to your girlfriend before?"

"I haven't even bought a gift that expensive for my parents," Tom pointed out. He paused, squeezing one eye shut as he thought. "That's a lie. Carrie and I sent them on a trip to Disney once for their anniversary. But never for a girlfriend."

"Oh really?" Gen crossed her arms. She didn't believe him. "Not even for Valentine's Day?"

"No." Tom licked his lips and looked away from her for a minute. Then he looked her in the eye. "I haven't dated anyone since we broke up." At Gen's stricken glance he hurried to explain. "I mean, I've dated a few girls here and there but none of them were ever actually my girlfriend. Not like you were."

Now she looked intrigued. "Why not?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just never found—"

He was cut off as Gen abruptly stood up, clutching her book to her chest. "I'm going to watch the movie with the girls. I know you wanted some peace and quiet and I'm for having kept you from that for so long. I'll talk to you later."

Tom's eyebrows furrowed together as Gen turned on her heel and headed towards the back of the bus. "Gen," he called after her. But she didn't turn around. Confused, Tom ran a hand through his hair and dropped down onto the couch.

He wasn't much of a drinker but he really did need one.

* * *

**A/N: **I know I haven't done a lot of scenes with the group actually interacting with each other (especially compared to my older stories) and that sort of makes sense since each chapter is (for the most part) focusing on each of the guys' problems. But I do have happier/wackier moments between the massive group of friends coming in.

**-Riles**


	25. Chapter 25

**.:Chapter Twenty-Five:.**

* * *

Dougie stretched his arms in front of him, behind him, and wind-milled them as Jacqui waited patiently, sitting in front of him. He then turned his attention to forcing air in and out of his mouth, making his chest rise and fall. "Okay, ready!"

"Ready," Jacqui declared.

Without blinking, Dougie reached down and pressed a button on his phone, training his eyes on Jacqui. Jacqui stared back at him, doing her best not to move her eyes at all. Any slight movement, any twitch, cough, or sneeze would make them lose the game. And losing a staring contest was something that had become a source of ridicule for the group over the past few weeks. Not only had there been many lapses of boredom that had caused games of ping-pong, paddle ball, hula hoop, and go fish to become bloodthirsty battles that have resulted in screaming, things being thrown, and silent treatments being tossed around.

Finally Dougie declared they were going to move onto staring contests—to which Patrick claimed anyone who wore contacts would lose because of the difficulty of being used to their eyes being open. Nevertheless it was a new game that held their attention for a while and Dougie predicted he wouldn't lose.

After a minute Dougie started to lift his eyebrows to keep his eyes open. Jacqui even went as far as to bring her eyelids close together but not blink despite how many tears were already falling down her cheeks, bringing mascara with them.

"Okay, this is really starting to hurt," Jacqui commented after the first minute.

"You're telling me," Dougie replied. He sounded as if he were in pain, doing his best to keep himself from cracking. An excited, nervous giggle started to escape his lips, causing Jacqui to start to laugh as well. "Oh God, I'm starting to crack." Jacqui leaned closer to him, as if she were about to cheat and blow air into his eyes.

Dougie quickly reached out his hand and grasped her shoulder, keeping her an arm's length away. "I swear to God if you blow in my face," Dougie warned.

"That's what she said," Jacqui trilled.

There was a moment of the two smiling at each other before they broke out into hysterical laughter. Due to their laughter they couldn't help but close their eyes, causing their tears to continuously roll down their cheeks.

"I won!" Jacqui declared, finally able to wipe her tears away. "Dude, I so beat you."

"Dude, you _so _cheated," Dougie replied. But he continued to laugh. Laughing so hard that he rolled onto his side and off the curb, lying flat on the ground, causing Jacqui to laugh again

Their laughter echoed across the empty parking lot before mixing in with their friends' laughter. Noah looked over at the two and shook his head, pulling his soda can away from his mouth. "And this is why we decided to stop doing staring contests."

"No! It's because you're all no fun!" Dougie declared, his words slurring. He sat up and flicked his hair out of his face. "I'm the only one that's having fun over here. You all need to catch up!"

Noah smiled and shook his head. He turned his attention back over to Harry whose arms were wrapped around his knees, a pensive expression on his face. He tilted his head back and forth a few times, chewing his lower lip, then said, "And my Mom used to make me and my brother and sister do these professional photo-shoots for everyone of our photos."

"The game is Two Truths and a Lie, Harry, not Reveal-every-secret-that-I-know-about-myself." Tom lifted an eyebrow as Harry rolled his eyes. Tom snickered. "I think he might be drunk already."

"Well, considering that you just finished a great show…and are stranded on the side of the road because a bus broke down, I think that's fine," Gen commented, resting her chin in her hand. She motioned over to the smoking bust that sat on the side of the road, the other parked in front of it. She smiled a little. "Besides, it's not so bad. This is the most that we've all been able to hang out with each other for a while."

"Are you telling me that you think the idea of having two busses was a bad idea?" Riley asked. She was hunched forward, running a brush through Anna's hair where there were different portions that were twisted up like fountains and sticking up all over her head. "Because I think I've managed to be the most calm I've ever been because of that, yeah?"

"Because we all enjoyed hearing you screech at us over how to make our food, how to clean up after ourselves, how to wear our clothes," James listed off.

Riley gave him a look. "You're almost 30 years old and you're wearing jeans that have patches representing different comic books heroes."

'What's the matter with that?" Patrick asked coming to his defense. "You like comics, too."

"The comics aren't the problem, the fact that he's patching patches and the jeans are almost hanging off of him that's the problem. I've seen enough naked guys while on tours you'd think by now I wouldn't have to see anymore."

"Not with this lot around," Rhuben pointed out.

The group of friends laughed again and a comfortable silence fell around them. There was a long night head of them. They hadn't gotten far from the venue when the girl's bus had broken down. While Fletch, Jake, and Ronan opted to stay on the buses so that they could get some work done as well as be up close and personal with the information they were given when the mechanics came. With the excess energy from their finished show the bands decided to have some time off the bus for a change of pace.

Now that the night continued to drag on and their energy started to fade was when their antics started to become more and more bizarre. The delirium of a long night kept them laughing at absolutely nothing and their silly games at least passed the time.

"Why don't we just start asking each other questions?" Sydney suggested. He lay flat on his back on the ground, holding his pone above his face, his thumbs flying over the screen. "Like, random questions we'd never really ask each other, yeah?" Finally he sat up and took one look at his girlfriend and smiled.

Anna beamed back, reaching her hand up to run over her hair. "How do I look?"

"Like you have a water fountain on your head. But it's still cute," Sydney remarked.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

"Okay, okay, I'll ask the first question." Charlie bid some time while he tilted his head back and took a long drink from his beer bottle. "I got one. Since everyone in the world always asks about backstage antics at stuff when we're on tour, I want to know. What's your best streaking story?"

Patrick's nose wrinkled for a second. Then his famous lopsided smile came to his face and he laughed. "Streaking or flashing? Or would that really count as both?" He smile widened as the others started to laugh. "No, no, I'm being serious, mate. Because then I'd either have two stories to tell or one."

"One night stands don't count," Sydney pointed out.

Rhuben winced and mimed placing her hands over her ears. "I don't care if you want to have a one night stand or do whatever you want to do, but I don't need to hear the details from my brothers," She commented, sticking her tongue out for good measure.

"Craziest rumor you've ever heard about yourself, then," Charlie changed the subject. He thought for a moment and laughed. "Probably that I have a pool full of money."

"Ooh, you're so posh that _that's _the worst rumor you've ever heard about yourself," Matt said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He pretended to shake his hands, miming being completely terrified. "I'm so scared of the people that try to come after you. Man, they're looking for something like…like your had a plot to murder your own mother."

"Did that happen to you?" Gen asked.

"May as well. The first time we came to America—"

"—For that show you guys did?" Jacqui piped up.

Matt held up a hand. "That's something that we pretend has never happened. It was a load of shit, anyway. They said after my mum had a stroke that I was trying to leave for America to get away from her and that I couldn't wait for her to die."

"Your mum being that sick isn't easy, Mattie," Riley pointed out.

"I know, but to know they went _that _far?" He shook his head. "Well, that went fucking morbid and I don't even have a beer in me yet." He laughed, rubbing his hands on the sides of his jeans. "Okay, the other one I've heard about myself…probably that I steal from every store I go to. Like, clothes and shit and then I just throw out the clothes I've worn once to get more."

"If you were rich enough you could do that," Tom reasoned. He leaned forward so he could see Charlie clearly. "Mate, is that what you do with your pool filled with money?" Charlie gave him the finger and the group laughed again.

"I think for me it's that of every band we've worked with I've slept with the leader," Riley said.

"But you have a thing for leaders of bands," Gen pointed out.

"I know, so that didn't really help the rumors at all." Riley openly laughed at herself.

There was a second of silence and then Dougie started laughing to what he had just heard. Then abruptly stopped abruptly, his eyes widening. "Wow, you guys, that was loud. That was, like, so loud. Am I the only one that heard it?" He giggled to himself and turned his head aside to look at all of his friends.

This was the best. He loved being on tour. There was nothing like it. It was when they were all able to be their real selves and enjoy the time they had to hang out with their friends. Playing on stage with the frenzy the fans managed to feed back to them was the best part. And he hated having to come down from that. Not performing, not being able to run back and forth across the stage, not being able to act out as much as he wanted was incredibly boring. He hated to do interviews, hated to talk about himself, and wanted to do nothing but have fun all the time.

But the music industry was fickle.

It cared too much about what you looked like, who you hung out with, and what you were doing in your personal life and it could take someone down faster than they could blink. Dougie was so glad he had so many friends that kept him sane throughout the whole thing but there were times that he did find himself too into his head.

Tonight he was going to have fun and that was that.

"Guys," Dougie said in what he thought was a quiet whisper but was still almost at shouting volume. "Where's Danny?"

There was a second of stunned silence before he could hear the sound of all of his friends shouting for Danny over and over again. "Chances are he forgot where the door to the bus is," Noah teased.

Patrick made a sound of annoyance. "That only happened once. And _you _try being woken up in the middle of the night with only two hours of sleep and you don't know where you are."

The group continued to shout for Danny until the door of the bus opened and he sauntered off, carefully closing it behind him. "Sorry, I was taking a phone call," he apologized. Then he smiled a little, lowering himself down next to Tom and added, "Did you know that the doors on the buses change sides? I could've sworn it was on the other side, not this one." He continued to smile as the others laughed again. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Danny, don't worry about it," Harry reassured him. He squeaked. "You wouldn't get it anyway." He stood up and stretched his arms over his head before rubbing his stomach. "Guys, let's do something. We have this entire parking lot to do whatever we want and we're just sitting here on the curb."

"We still have those fireworks from that fan," Gen pointed out. She tucked her hair behind her ear and peered up at him. "I don't think there's anything that'll keep us from being able to set them off." She chuckled. "I mean, apart from scaring, Ronan, Jake, and Fletch half to death."

"All the more reason to do it, then!" Matt declared.

"Hear hear!" Dougie rolled onto his stomach and carefully climbed to his feet. "Let's go!" He put his arm around Harry and started to nudge him forward. The two laughed as they stumbled at the same time, seemingly tripping over nothing, and continued to the bus. They pulled open the hatch at the bottom of the bus and quietly grabbed the box beneath it, hoping not to attract the attention of their managers as they did so.

"We already got told off for setting these off at the venue, I don't want the rest taken away before we can set them off," Dougie whispered. Harry shushed him and Dougie shushed him back, giggling like a little kid. He started to jump up and down, waving his hands up and down as he did so. "C'mon, hurry up."

"Do _you _want to carry this all yourself?"

"You're the one with the muscles, why would _I _want to carry it?"

Harry shoved a box into Dougie's chest and the bassist whistled loudly to himself as he practically skipped back over to the others. As soon as the box was set down in the middle of the parking lot Dougie went about making sure all of the fireworks were turned so the fuses were his way and picked up the lighter that was along with it. He twisted his mouth to the side then flicked the lighter open and touched it to the fuse and took a step back.

"Hey Dougie, what sort of fireworks are in that one?" Anna asked, coming up to his side. She carefully pulled the fountains out of her hair then slid a blue beanie over her hair.

"I don't know, I just set them off," Dougie said with a shrug.

Anna looked at him funny. "You set them _all _off?"

"Yeah…"

The next thing Dougie knew, everyone was sprinting away from the box, screaming at the top of their lungs as they did so. Harry went as far as to push his shoulder into Dougie's stomach and lifted him up over his shoulder and ran away with him. They only made it so far before the box exploded in a bright explosion of rainbow sparks that reached ten feet in the air.

Dougie laughed hysterically as cinders rained down over everyone, the roman candle continuing to burn in place. He could hear his friends whooping and hollering at their near death experience—which really wasn't so close compared to other things they had done before—and grinned even further.

Then with the other box of fireworks open—and making sure Dougie wasn't close enough to set that one on fire—they grabbed sparklers and other explosives they wanted to set off and ran around the parking leaving trails of colorful smoke behind them.

It was just the way Dougie liked it.

* * *

**A/N: **I love this one; it really made me laugh picturing it all in my head. Especially everyone running away from a box of fireworks that are going to blow up. I figured out some issues that I had with this story; one being how many characters I have to work with and the fact that I haven't written them in a long time compared to, say, working with a lot for Big Time Rush where I had written that for a while and frequently.

So style-wise the story is going to change a bit with the next chapter. Though at the moment I'm not sure how many chapters/how long this story will end up being. There's plenty of things that I still have to show.

**-Riles**


	26. Chapter 26

**.:Chapter Twenty-Six:.**

* * *

"So what sort of a ring are you looking for, mate?" Fletch asked, eyes moving over the glass cases in front of him. He glanced up at the jeweler as she stood on the other side of the room, working with another customer. She and the customer spoke rapidly in what he thought was Portuguese. Still he wasn't able to completely understand it.

Being in Brazil was always a great place for McFly to go; the fans were nuts—in a good way, the shows were always so exciting and vibrant…and there were only a few cases of fans managing to sneak their way into their hotel rooms and tour buses.

"I don't know. And that's the problem," Jake replied. He crossed his arms over his chest, standing in the middle of the store. "Ashley isn't someone whose really into getting big, flashy things."

Ronan snorted, resting a hand against a countertop. "Have you met her? Last I checked she had nearly every designer dress you could think of in her possession." He scratched the back of his head. "And wasn't she promoted in her job without even having to try."

"That was when she had her luck," Jake pointed out.

"Riiight," Fletch agreed. He turned to Ronan and made the crazy sign beside his head, causing the other man to laugh. "Do you actually believe in that, mate? That you were able to share your luck with each other? You say it really helped you get McFly signed in the US but that was bound to happen eventually. The boys are talented and anyone who passed them by would be silly."

"That's what happened and I'm still sticking to that story," Jake defended himself. "Besides, Katy is the one that has the lucky now. Did I ever tell you that not only does she have more friends now, but she also has a part-time job that pays her well, and has become the captain of the basketball _and _cheerleading teams?"

"And that has nothing to do with her own natural talent?"

"Shut up."

Ronan laughed again and pushed himself upwards to look over the rings that sat in the cases in front of him. He looked at them for a long moment then shook his head, turning his attention to the necklaces and bracelets. The last thing he needed was to remind himself of the things he didn't have. Not that he didn't enjoys his family as it was, but having been close to having what people deemed the 'perfect' family was something he thought about often.

Especially with the medical illness he was dealing with now.

"Hey Fletch, have you ever thought of being married?" Jake asked.

Fletch paused and turned to the American manager with a strange look on his face. Then he laughed lightly, crossing his arms as well. "Mate, I _am _married."

Jake blinked back at him. "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not."

"I am, in fact, married."

Ronan made a face. "You don't ever talk about her at all."

"Because I focus a lot on my job when I'm currently doing my job. When I'm at home, I'm at home and I have a separate life." Fletch rolled his eyes. "The lads never seem to want to help me keep my life separate, but I do."

"Honestly, I think that's the best thing you can do. If you can find a good way to separate the two then you're better off." Ronan ran a hand through his hair, briefly wondering if he would come away with chunks of hair in his hand. _Don't worry about it yet, Ronan; you're not going through chemotherapy _he reminded himself. A slight sense of relief washed over him. The tour wasn't going to go on much longer, once they left South America after spending much of their time traveling Europe, they would go to the Royal Albert Hall for the three 10th anniversary shows, then do the end of their shows in Australia.

Once in Australia, towards the end of the tour, he could start getting treatment done and all would be fine. Of course that was if the stress of the tour and dealing with a bunch of young adults whose maturity—when around each other—hadn't aged past ten were around each other.

"Unfortunately it doesn't seem like my kids have been able to do that so well over the course of their career," Ronan commented. He lifted a hand to run through his hair once more—he was starting to get a headache. "I mean, they're always professional when they have to be and when they have time off they're the family they have to be but being on tour can sometimes make it hard."

"It's only because they're all together all the time for months at time," Jake pointed out. "I had the same problem with McFly while in New York. Granted part of the issue was because it took a while to be signed but one point I went into their apartment to find Tom, Harry, and Danny had dog-piled Dougie and was trying to press his face into the floor."

"That's not weird," Fletch pointed out. "They do it practically every day."

"But this time I'm sure they were actually trying to kill him. They didn't speak to each other for about a week after that. The silence actually started to become scary by that point."

Ronan grinned. "Or if what you were saying about your run of bad luck was true, you were just a jinx."

"That's a possibility." Jake walked to a counter and rested his chin in his hands, looking over the rings. He looked at them but didn't put much thought into them. It was a big step to take; becoming engaged to be married and part of him wasn't sure if it was a step to even take. How could someone want to be with someone who was gone for eight months of the year working on a band that may or may not tour.

It wasn't necessarily in his job description to go on tour with the boys but they had become his family as much as the Jacksons at one point had almost been his. And Ashley was doing a great job with her own business now running her own fashion empire after off shooting from working for Peggy Braden. But the long distance was becoming harder and harder for them to deal with. So the next step was obviously to get married, they had spoken about it before. (As well as planning for each and every thing that could go wrong).

"I can't wait to see what happens when he proposes then," Ronan joked. He started to laugh along with Fletch. Jake rolled his eyes and waited for the punch line. "Cause next thing you know a bolt of lightning is going to come out of the sky and get a direct hit to that ring."

"I can see that," Fletch agreed. "And then the venue will be swept away by a tornado from the accompanying storm." He and Ronan laughed harder as Jake continued to watch them. Finally Fletch managed to calm down and reached out, slapping Jake on the shoulder. "We're kidding of course. You and Ashley are going to have a great time together."

"But you _did _talk to her about marriage in general right? Before coming up with the idea to propose?" Ronan broke in. "Because just springing it on her is going to do nothing but give you a resounding 'no' when you ask."

Jake paused, pressing his lips together. He opened his mouth then closed it. Then opened and closed it again. Finally he cleared his throat. "Okay, so there might be a few other things I need to think about before buying a ring." He reached up and tapped his finger against the glass and jumped backwards as it cracked.

A spider-web like shatter spread out towards the outside of the case as the three managers watched. Ronan's eyes widened and he instinctively took a step backwards. He'd been around his kids long enough to have developed a great fight or flight response to know when things were going to go south.

"We should get out of here," Jake agreed.

"Maybe we should carry you," Fletch joked. "To make sure you don't break the floor under your footsteps."

"Shut up!" The three left the jewelers and walked the short trip back to the hotel. "So what do you think is going to happen after this tour is over? There's plenty for the boys to do but they don't seem so pressed to do another album."

"Honestly, I think they're still embarrassed of how Above the Noise ended up working out," Fletch agreed. He ran his hands through his hair. "They bloody tried something new that worked well for them but the numbers from the site were sekwed because of it crashing and then they basically gave it away like what happened with RadioActive and…honestly, I'm not sure they can recover from that at the moment."

"I know what you mean," Ronan chimed in. "My kids have been really hesitant to release music in the US again because of the numbers from their last few albums. I've explained to them over and over that the certification in terms of sales is different in the US to Australia and that they're still doing a great job but they're still sort of disappointed by it."

Jake certainly agreed with what both managers had to say. Managing a band was the hardest job anyone could explain. Not only were manages the ones who communicated the ideas that were to be made of music videos to art directors, but they were also the ones who made deals for certain venues for bands to perform, set up communications with record companies and radio stations, the ones who got the talent to the right spot at the right time every day, who made sure their television interviews and appearances were set up and ready to go.

And that wasn't to mention how many clients they were dealing with at once. Jake only worked for McFly, Ronan only worked for the DarkElements—though had a hand in discovering other bands that could be added to his record company, but Fletch was the one who worked with not only McFly and Busted but numerous other musicians and singers as well as composed certainly symphonic elements on their songs as well. If there was anyone who went above and beyond what a manager was to do it was Fletch.

If there was anyone who knew the music industry inside and out with numerous hats on it was Fletch. However there were still many things the three found to be particularly difficult and that was speaking to their bands as a band and as friends. Jake's tactic was to be their friend first, it being the way he met McFly. He had been having a day of bad luck when he bumped into them at the launder mat; it was one of the first times Dougie had learned how to wash his own clothes and Jake had pointed out the things they should and shouldn't put together when washing. (Of course that was only a few seconds before his washing machine blew up, spraying water everywhere.

Then they had gotten to talking and found out that Jake was a manager looking for a band to make big while McFly was looking for a manager to help them break through the American market. And it had been fun. It was a bit disappointing they didn't get as big as either of them had hoped but their career continued to move forward with little to no issues afterwards.

Ronan's tactic was business first and it had been a success for him. Not only did he figure out how different clients reacted to being directed in certain ways but there had to be a connection in terms of how the career was going to be handled. That worked very well with the Jacksons and worked even better when they became friends afterwards.

"They seem to be doing fine to me," Jake said.

"You're not around them 24/7," Ronan reminded him.

Fletch smirked. "You seem to forget that was of your own choice to be around them every second of every day. And if you don't seem to notice, within the dictionary a 'father' is also to be the punching bag of said children."

Ronan shook his head. "It's not that…" he trailed off until they reached the hotel and went to the restaurant. He didn't speak on the topic again until they ordered their food. "Honestly, I'm not sure how much longer the band is going to last."

"Are you talking about McFly or Busted because I have a bet on both of them," Jake said matter-of-fact. Fletch gave him a look and he defended himself. "I'm just saying Busted already broke up before so there's a really good chance that's not going to last. And I was waiting for the time that Tom actually went along with this threats to kill Danny and Dougie."

"Harry's really strong though, I think he would end up killing Tom before anything else happened," Fletch said thoughtfully.

"Right, but then the band would've been disbanded anyway because you know Danny wouldn't do it without Tom."

"True."

Ronan chuckled as he watched the two. Then he started to rip his napkin into tiny pieces. "I mean I don't know much my band will last. Syd has been having thoughts of wanting to stop the band and they all agreed if one of them wants to stop then they all have to."

Fletch's eyebrows rose. "Do you reckon he'd do that?"

"I know he's really homesick and I think a little bit lonely. That's why I brought Anna out for him to have someone his age to hang out with. I mean, the boys and Gen and Jacqui are all his friends but it's still different." Yawning, Ronan rested his elbows on the table and rested his chin atop his hands. "Then there's the fact he wants to be a normal kid. And I completely get that. My parents were hard on me and my brothers; we were all into sports and did well enough that they pushed hard with it. My older brother, Aaron, was good at everything he did and they made sure Ely and I were the same. But they pushed too hard and I started to resent not being able to be normal and think of everything but sports."

"How'd you get over that?" Jake asked. He played with a fork that was on the table, spinning it around his fingers. The fork then projectile launched across the table, causing Fletch to lean out of the way, and flew across the table. It struck the couple at the table next to them. Jake wined and held up a hand while the couple turned and stared at him. "Sorry," he apologized weakly.

"That's how I really got into music," Ronan explained. "I always liked it. I played a little bit of the guitar and piano and picked up melodies and harmonies pretty easily. Eventually I started to make my own music and it made me feel normal, being able to share it with my friend. If I knew it would've started my career I would've started it sooner. So while I felt lonely around my brothers I didn't feel so lonely with music. Syd feels lonely when he's not around his comforts, especially recently knowing that Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah are more than likely going to be moving out soon."

"Have you talked to the others about it yet?" Jake asked.

"No, because I'm unsure of how to bring it up. I'm sure James and Tom both know how much it hurts to know their band is ending—or in Tom's case that he didn't make it. But for it to be where it's because one wants to grow up a little…that's where's its hard."

He yawned again, rubbing his eyes.

"Ronan, mate, I'm sorry for asking but are you alright? You're looking a little poorly." Fletch's eyebrows came together as he sat up straight in his seat. It was true; Ronan did look a little more…rundown than usual. Anyone who lived and worked out on the road for months at a time started to look like they needed a good night's sleep. But this was different. Ronan was starting to look pale, almost ashen, his eyes weren't as bright and he seemed barely focused.

A heavy sigh escaped Ronan's mouth and he smiled a little.

"I've been better," he admitted. He closed his eyes for a long moment, as if trying to will everything away. "There's this thing with my knee…I've had it injured for a long time and have been dealing with it off and on. But I went to the doctor before we went on tour and he told me that it might be worse than I thought." He cleared his throat. "And it was _suggested _that I get chemotherapy before we left London."

"Chemotherapy?" Jake repeated.

"Like cancer?" Fletch added.

"No shoot," Jake shot back to him. Fletch ignored him.

Ronan nodded and shrugged. "I don't know how far along it is. All I know is that I've been seeing my doctor every now and then and when we get back I have to start chemotherapy." He yawned again, this time a prolonged yawn that made his eyes water. "I haven't told anyone yet other than you guys. I guess I haven't really come to terms with it."

"Ronan, you need to start getting chemotherapy _now_. Before it gets worse," Fletch insisted.

Ronan shook his head. "Not yet. Not until the tour is finished. I can hold on until then. It's not the right time to do it. Besides, I had it checked by a traveling doctor and my white blood cell count is too low to even start chemotherapy right now." His eyes shifted to the side and Jake briefly wondered if Ronan was lying.

However as long as the three had known and worked together they had a working relationship and friendship based on honesty and support. If this is what Ronan wanted then it was what he wanted to do.

And Jake thought dealing with getting a band to break America was hard.

* * *

**A/N: **Geez, took me long enough. *rolls eyes*. Haha. Please let me know what you think.

**-Riles**


	27. Chapter 27

**.:Chapter Twenty-Seven:.**

* * *

Harry finished his drum fill with a crash of the cymbals and pulled his headphones off, resting them around his neck. Wiping sweat from his forehead he leaned over and started to pick up a water bottle off the floor. Then he stopped and moved over to the beer bottle that sat next to it and picked it up, quickly downing the contents inside.

"Don't you think you're getting started a little too early?" Noah asked from the drum set next to him.

Shaking his head, Harry flipped the glass bottle in his hand then tossed it into the recycling bin across the stage. "You can never get started too early. Besides, I've been up all night."

"Doing what?" Harry started to answer then Noah held up his hand. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know." Harry grinned in response and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Noah to chuckle. "Geez, you guys really don't hesitate to keep things lively. Or was the hotel wide game of hide and seek starting to get boring for you?"

"Not when I'm winning."

Noah laughed again and this time Harry joined in.

What seemed to be a common occurrence when they were on their tours was at some point someone—most likely drunkenly—suggests they recapture their youth and play a game of hide and seek. The suggestion is first met with rolling eyes and grumbling and the next thing anyone knows there's a group of grown men and women acting like teenagers running up and down the hotel stairs making as much noise as possible.

This past time Harry upped the ante on the game saying whoever won was going to win one hundred extra dollars and with an insatiable appetite and extremely high room service prices the extra money could be used pretty easily. The next thing he knew Danny was chasing him around and trying to choke him out with a drumstick while Dougie dragged him across the floor, both wanting to get the money first before anything else. Tom was the only one who refused to play despite how hard everyone else tried to coerce him into it.

And that had been the first time.

The game had been going on for the past week and so far it seemed like there was a rule that was missed or contested to prove who did and did not in fact win. Throw in a drunken Dougie was singing random 90s songs when not spouting our Harry Potter quotes with Jacqui—who had the uncanny ability to know each and every quote by heart—James, who got a little _too _into the game to the point he scared a poor housemaid into potentially having an early heart attack, Matt, who somehow managed to cram himself into the tiniest refrigerator, and the Jacksons who seem not to understand the word 'losing' at all and Harry was surprised they were kicked out.

From what he remembered anyway.

"Anyone ever tell you, you have a problem?" Noah then asked.

With a wave of his hand, Harry fended off the accusation. "Is it ever really fun if you don't win?" He then stamped his foot on the bass drum pedal a few times as if to emphasize his point. He did a quick drum fill which Noah fell into to play along with him. Then Harry looked over at the other drum set that had been set up on stage. "Where's Rhu?"

Noah shrugged. "She said she had something to do." At that Harry quirked an eyebrow and Noah held up his hands, holding his drumsticks by his thumbs. "I swear I don't know, mate." He looked over as footsteps headed their way and shielded his eyes against the lights onstage. "Hey Syd, what's up?"

"Nothing," Sydney replied. His hands were shoved into the front pocket of his sweatshirt as he strode their way. "I got bored back at the hotel. What are you guys doing?"

"We were _supposed _to be having drum practice but your sister is late," Harry announced. He paused as his voice echoed along the room. Was his voice really that loud? He started to make random sounds, laughing to himself as they echoed back towards him.

A half smile came to Sydney's face. "I know, she said she had to do something with Danny." He made his way up onstage and studied the two for a long moment. "Mind if I fill in?"

"In a minute," Noah replied, spinning his drumstick around. "We have to finish working on this."

Harry continued to say random words and make random sounds that came back to him, laughing harder and harder at how distorted they sounded. Then he quickly cut his laughter short, bringing a hand up to fan himself. Was it just him or were the stage lights starting to get stronger and stronger? _It's like being in a bloody sauna. _To cool himself down he got up from his drum kit and went to the cooler set backstage and pulled out another beer to drink.

He felt better, cooler once he took a few sips, but it only seemed to make the lights even brighter. Grimacing, Harry set the beer bottle down and brought his hands up to his forehead, a pounding headache started to form. Harry shuffled back over to the stage, watching blankly as Sydney's face screwed up in annoyance.

"Right. Whatever," Sydney said with as much attitude as he could muster. "It's not like I even need the practice. I'm not the one that messes up anyway." He backed up and started to walk away from the two.

Was his voice suddenly becoming tight? Harry brought one his hands down from his head to rub his neck. He could barely turn his head back and forth without wincing in pain.

Noah got up from his stood and crossed the stage to Sydney. Reaching out, he grabbed onto his baby brother's head and forced him to turn around. Then he crossed his arms and slightly lowered his chin to look down at him. "Do you have a problem with me?"

Sydney lowered his gaze to his feet. "No," he said.

"Did you get into a fight with Anna?"

"No." Sydney tossed his hair from his face. "We're good. We don't fight much. She likes being on tour. I like having her around."

Now a light groan escaped Harry's lips as his stomach rolled back and forth. Maybe he really had one beer too many. But he had to do something to stave off his hangover. Besides, nothing made him more prepared for a show than being at his top showmanship ability.

"Then why are you being a little turd?"

Now Sydney lifted his head and sneered. "Does it matter? It's not like any of the rest of you notice anyway."

"Syd, I'm noticing you now and I'm asking you a question. What is your problem?"

Everything seemed to zoom away from Harry as if he were moving in a tunnel. His entire body became warm, there was a loud droning sound in his ears, and he felt like throwing up and all at the same time. Suddenly Harry fell to his knees, but his body didn't register it. It was as if his lower body suddenly ceased to exist, wiped out with an imaginary eraser. Harry brought a hand up to his chest; it was thudding rapidly, each thump sending a course of nausea through him.

He looked over at Sydney and Noah, who were arguing with each other but found he couldn't hear what they were saying. Finally, his eyes rolled up and he slumped onto the floor, losing control of his body as it started to rapidly shake and back and forth. The sound of his body hitting the stage floor caught his friends' attention and flashes continued to move through his vision.

First he saw Noah and Sydney sitting around him.

Then he saw random men from the venue leaning over him—he caught a glimpse of one of their shirts to know for sure.

Then he saw paramedics as they placed a mask over his face.

Then he could hear Fletch somewhere in the background yelling instructions into a phone.

Then he saw the inside of an ambulance.

Then he saw what was probably the ceiling of a hospital.

Then nothing but darkness.

* * *

"No, Mrs. Judd we haven't heard anything yet. I'm not sure when the doctors are going to tell us anything either," Fletch said into his phone as he paced back and forth. "But if you feel it's something you need to fly all the way out here for, because you know I'd hate for you to spend all of that money. I understand that, Mrs. Judd…"

His voice trailed off as he turned the corner away from his band mates and friends. Noah looked over at them all, noticing they were in different states of dress—some still in their pajamas, others fully dressed, all looking as distressed as he felt. Jacqui sat towards the end of the ground, periodically wiping tears away from her eyes, being the first to ask about Harry whenever a doctor came by.

He really felt for her. The time she and Harry had dated, even after having broken up, the two stayed very close. Dougie, on the other hand, he was increasingly worried about. He sat next to Jacqui, gently rubbing her shoulders with a zoned out expression on his face. He stared at the wall in front of him, eyebrows flowered over his eyes, but his eyes showed no emotion at all. As a matter of fact Noah recognized that look as the one he and his siblings gave when trying to block out memories of their past abuse.

Tom and Danny sat with hoods of their sweatshirts lowered over their faces as they waited. It was probably the quietest he had ever heard Danny, to be honest. Even the last couple of times someone ended up in the hospital—from the time Noah broke his foot while on tour to a nasty burn on Tom's hand from getting too close to pyro—Danny managed to keep everyone as lively as possible. Even Jake was quiet.

It had to be more serious than anyone of them knew. He and Sydney had managed to stop fighting long enough to notice that Harry had fallen out but everything else had moved in a whirlwind and despite how many times he demanded the paramedics to tell him what was wrong no one would tell him anything.

_Some anniversary tour this is turning out to be, _Noah thought. He briefly closed his eyes, tilting his head back to rest against the wall behind him. His knees started to bounce up and down as a cold sweat ran down his back. _It's just a hospital, No. You're here to see your friend, he's going to get help. It's nothing to be so worried about. _And yet as he tried to reassure himself his knees continued to bounce up and down moving faster and faster as the seconds passed.

He only sat upright once more when he felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Anna leaning over him.

"Do you want anything to eat?" she asked quietly.

Noah looked over to see that his brothers and sisters had gotten up to go to the vending machine as well then nodded after a second of thought. He didn't speak until they were far enough away from the others that they wouldn't hear. "I think Harry might be an alcoholic," he said, causing the others to stop and turn his way, looking at him in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" Rhuben asked, crossing her arms.

Noah shrugged. "You haven't noticed how much he's been drinking?"

"I haven't been around these guys so much, but I've been backstage to a lot of shows," Anna remarked quietly, almost as if she didn't want to butt in or jump to conclusions. "There's usually a lot of alcohol flowing, innit? Harry's been on a bender, though."

"You think this has something to do with it then?" Riley asked.

Again, Noah shrugged. "He had been drinking another beer before he collapsed, didn't get any sleep at all, was drinking when we went out last night." Then he looked each of his sibling sin the eye. "You know as well as I do what happens with someone who's an alcoholic." His eyes then shifted behind them as if he expected Robert to come walking around the corner.

Almost as if they planned it, the group all sat down on the ground. Noah stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankle, resting his hands on his lap. He hated hospital now as much as he used to, and despite how much he wanted to leave there was a chance they'd hear something about Harry soon.

"What'd you say happened with Harry again?" Rhuben asked, pulling her hair back behind her shoulders.

Noah and Sydney took turns explaining what they had seen when Harry fell; from his rolled back eyes to the blood he had spilled from hitting his head as he hit the ground. Then Riley thought for a moment, bringing her arms up to wrap around her knees. "Sounds like alcohol poisoning, yeah?"

"You can get poisoned from alcohol?" Patrick asked, face screwing up.

"Sort of," she explained. "If you consume too much at one time it severely impairs you body physically and mentally and then you could fall into a coma. Most death comes from choking on your vomit."

"Oh."

The group became silent once more, waiting to hear anything. Noah watched his siblings; as Sydney rested his head against Anna's as she put her head on his shoulder, how Patrick started to chew on his nails—something he only did when he worried, how Riley started to rub her arm, how Rhuben started to tap her feet and felt nothing but guilt start to consume him, the same amount of guilt he had tried to keep hidden since the start of the tour; since the time Harry had hurt his hand before going onstage.

He lowered his face and rested it on his upraised legs, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could. He started to breathe heavily through his nose, doing the best he could to stay calm. But his hands went clammy, his body turned cold and he felt like throwing up. _Unless I'm suffering from alcohol poisoning, too, _he thought with a wry smile.

His hands started to shake as hard as he tried to calm down then finally said, "O-okay, I have something I need to tell you guys. I wanted to say it before but I didn't know how and then I don't know what to say to the other guys but I didn't think it'd get this far and—"

"Okay, No, you're starting to go warp speed," Riley said gently.

Noah nodded and licked his lips. He brought up his hands and rubbed them over his hair, pushing his fringe into his eyes as if trying to hide behind it. "I think…what's happened to Harry is my fault."

Patrick sat up straight and looked intently at his twin. "What do you mean, buddy?"

"Yeah, how could this be your fault?" Anna asked. Sydney made a snorting sound and she turned to glare at him, making Sydney look away from her, twiddling his thumbs.

Noah let out along long sigh. "Basically since the tour started I've watched Harry continued to drink more and more. And I didn't say anything because I thought I could help him. It didn't started out so bad; he'd just have one drink every night, maybe some shots after a good show, maybe some wine on a day off but he kept drinking more and more and—"

"No, that was almost two months ago!" Rhuben pointed out, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

"I know. But he told me he could handle it. He always was able to function and his hangovers stopped him for a while but then he got used to that but whenever we needed to meet fans or if he wanted to hide it he asked me how Robert did it and I felt like I had to tell him and he promised he'd stop…" Noah continued to speak quicker and quicker as everything came rambling out of him.

And it wasn't until then he realized how much of a hold Robert still had over him. Not only did he try not to think about how baffling Robert's request to help him foster another child, but he tried to push aside how accommodating he had become. When Robert was still around he was so much of an alcoholic that Noah and his siblings had become used to making him presentable for the next day. They did nothing short of having to bathe him and brush his teeth so no one was the wiser to his own vices.

Now that Harry was going through the same thing he found himself falling back into the same patterns he had been in before.

Before anyone could say anything else there was a commotion up the hall and Noah leaned over to find their friends gather around the doctor. The Jacksons quickly got up and went over as well, just in time to hear the bad news.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "But your friend Harry has slipped into a coma."

* * *

**A/N: **Bet you all didn't see that coming. I feel so evil sometimes. Again, sorry for the wait. This story has actually changed a bit from my original idea since writing it (apart from the fact I started it over a year ago). So in that case this may have come out of nowhere.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	28. Chapter 28

**.:Chapter Twenty-Eight:.**

* * *

Riley pulled her hair back from her face as she stared down at the computer screen in front of her. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she turned to a different web page. Pushing her glasses up her nose she leaned forward and started to read that one, too.

Then a hand reached around her and pressed the top of her laptop closed. Riley made a sound of protest and turned to stare at Matt, who lay stretched out on the bed next to her. He blinked back at her. "You know reading all of these websites isn't going to help you," he pointed out. "If anything it's just going to make you think he has cancer."

"No, if he had cancer that would affect his overall body long before he's put into a coma," Riley replied, almost absentmindedly. "Besides, I wasn't looking for that. I was trying to see if there was any way we could get into the hospital without being his family. Since Mrs. Judd got here we have to wait for information from her or from the managers."

Matt shook his head, resting his arm behind his head. He looked up at her. "If there's anything else to know they'll tell us as soon as they can."

"You seem really calm about all this, Mattie," Riley pointed out.

Matt shrugged. "My mum's been in and out of the hospital so much that it's not really a big deal to me anymore. And right now, Harry's in the best care he can get."

Riley's face softened as Matt's gaze shifted away. He sniffed quietly. She knew how close he and his mother were; having been together through her past husbands and failed relationships. And he went through all of the moving and name changes with little complaints just so she was happy. When she had her first stroke it really shook him and through each of her hospital stays, showing little emotion as time went on. Just as long as he could stay there long enough to wait for her and not have the urge to run away was better than Riley could ever do.

It took everything in her not to run out of the hospital screaming every time a doctor and his team of nurses raced by, responding to the latest call of the patients waiting for care. But her worry for Harry managed to easily trump it. Though it didn't keep the flashbacks from her numerous trips to doctor offices and hospitals out of her head.

Matt broke her out of her thoughts as he added, "Just sucks that we've had to postpone the rest of the tour until we figure things out and can't tell the fans why."

That was something Riley certainly agreed with.

It was a tough decision they all had to deal with, really. How to manage the news that Harry was in a coma due to his excessive drinking. Not only was alcoholism and alcohol consumption something that was difficult to speak about due to the legal age limit of the UK, but the general public knowledge of those that managed to wind up in legal trouble and in rehab didn't help much. Matt knew that first hand and it was part of the reason why he had decided to stay out of the decision making of the whole thing. Finally, due to wanting to keep privacy for the bands and their families, Jake, Fletch, and Ronan all decided to put out a press release stating there had been a family emergency and for their privacy to be respected.

_Well, we're a family and it is an emergency, _Riley thought. She pulled her computer open once more. "You know you closed me out of my homework, right?"

Again Matt closed the lid of her laptop. "Which you've been throwing yourself into for the last couple of days. It probably can't be helping you very much." He smirked at her. "Besides, I thought you just said that you were looking to see if there's any way we can get into the hospital."

"That _is _part of my homework," Riley explained. "Loopholes and all that." She scrubbed her face with her fingertips. "Though I don't know how much longer I can do this _and _work on the band at the same time. It was different when I was just doing normal classes and everything but now we're getting close to having to do things hands on and I can't just tape it and send it to them."

"Why not?"

Riley couldn't help but smile a little bit. She could be as laid-back as the next guy but Matt managed to blow that out of the water with his spontaneous, reckless, and fun loving nature. Whenever a setback came his way he usually shrugged and went a different way about things. Normally she had the same idea, but doing that in her real life and seeing things in her education start to fall apart was only as much as she could take.

"Because at uni there are only a few things that you can do online and I've already signed up for all of those when I came out on this tour, there's nothing else to do if I want to get my degree."

Matt gave her a funny smile, which made her laugh a little. "Well, there's your problem in the first place. I mean I didn't even finish high school and look at me." He reached into his pocket and started to pull out a cigarette.

"I don't think you're the right choice for that statement, Mattie." Leaning forward, Riley plucked the cigarette from his fingers and broke it in half before tossing it into the wastebasket beside her.

Riley looked up as there was a knock on the door to hers and Rhuben's room. She could've sworn everyone was downstairs watching a movie or something to try and take their minds off of having to go back to London as Harry was transferred to a hospital closer to his family. That had been two weeks ago. How much longer could they wait to hear anything? How much longer would he stay in the coma before waking up? And what would happen when he finally did wake up?

Would he be the same Harry as before. No matter what he had a long journey ahead of him and it didn't help that their fans were continuing to get restless to know what was going on.

"What's not helping me is consistently being interrupted," she replied. Matt laughed, reaching over to pat her knee as there was another knock. This time Sydney poked his head into the room.

"Hey Syd," Matt greeted him as he walked into the room.

"Hi Matt," Sydney replied. He glanced over at Riley. "Can I—"he stopped, immediately correcting himself. "May I talk to my sister, please?"

"Sure thing. I was trying to cheer her up a bit but it seems like she just wants to be a sourpuss, man." Matt leaned over and gave Riley a kiss on the side of the head, causing Riley to push against his face to get him away from her. He laughed and rolled off the bed before leaving the room.

Sydney then walked into the room and sat down on the end of her bed. "You hear anything else about Harry?" He asked, eyeing her computer.

"If I had I would've told you guys the second it happened," Riley replied. She sat up straight, resting her hands in her lap. "What's up, Little Man?"

Sydney twisted his mouth to the side for a minute before saying, "I wanted to apologize for being mean to you about the whole Dougie thing."

With a snort, Riley waved her hand. "You don't need to apologize, Syd," Riley said.

Sydney's eyebrows furrowed together. "I don't?" He asked. He paused for a second then clarified with, "I wasn't apologizing for what I said, but for the _way_ I said it. That was really mean."

"I know." Sydney's eyebrows furrowed even further, making wrinkles appear in his forehead. Riley chuckled. "You don't particularly like being rude or disagreeable to anyone so you get this deer in the headlights look when you start to regret or feel bad about it. Besides, I don't think you should ever apologize for what you mean because being honest is better than to lie about it, especially if you're right. Besides, you hate to lie."

Then Sydney's face relaxed and he turned, resting his feet up on the bed. "I was just frustrated I guess," he said. With a low sigh, Sydney ran his hand over his hair, pressing his blue/black bangs into his eyes. "I guess I don't get why you're always trying to help him so much…I mean, I know you're best friends and everything but he can take care of himself."

Riley rested her hands on her knees. "Let me ask you something, Syd. We always knew, as you grew older, you could take care of yourself. But what would you do, if we were being abused now, and say, Anna knew, yeah? What do you think she would do if you were continuously being beaten and didn't want anyone else to know? She'd help you, right?"

Sydney nodded.

"No questions asked?"

He nodded again.

"So why is it such a bad thing that I'm trying to help, Dougie?"

"Because you treat him like a child."

"Only when he's drunk. And then I've learned you have to or else they would get angry or aggressive and you know what happens when a drunk person gets aggressive." Riley looped her arms around her knees. She closed her eyes for a minute and shook her head before answering Sydney's unasked question. She could see it in his eyes. "I had no idea that he had seen his dad before leaving on the tour, and it sucks that he didn't tell me but that's not anything I'm too upset about. I'm just trying to limit the fallout."

Sydney made a humming sound under his breath. Then he looked her in the eye. "You know you can't help everyone, sis," he remarked.

A pang of sadness washed through Riley's body. "If I could Harry wouldn't be in the hospital right now." She scratched the back of her head. "That's not the only thing I'm worried about right now. I can't even focus on my schoolwork it's getting so bad. And at this point I think it's just going to send Dougie into a downward spiral. You know how close the two are."

"They're practically married, Riles, I think close is an understatement."

"My point exactly."

Riley pushed her computer aside and stretched out her legs. She let out a long breath and rested her arms over her eyes, mimicking the stance Matt had taken on before. How had the tour gotten out so badly? Things were going so well at the beginning? _Even you know that's a lie, _she thought. Dougie was having problem with his drinking from the very beginning, Matt, James, and Charlie couldn't get along and while they seemed to be getting better it was very slow going, there was something going on with Danny that no one really knew about despite his continued disappearances and slowly lowering morale, Tom was snapping at everyone when he wasn't too busy moping over how Gen didn't seem to want to talk to him, and she and her siblings were dealing with the man that had left them with more invisible scars than permanent ones as he continuously tried to contact them to know if they had made up their minds yet.

Her lips formed a scowl.

"What are you thinking about?" Sydney asked, voice breaking into her thoughts.

Riley opened her eyes and looked at her baby brother. "How much I want to go home," She said honestly.

Now Sydney was the one that managed a smile. "I kind of want to go home, too."

* * *

Matt walked down to the living room and found everyone still watching the movie that had been started earlier that day. Though it looked like no one was really watching it. How could they take their mind off one of their best friends who was laid up in a hospital with one of the worst cases of alcohol poisoning seen lately. That's what the doctor said.

Not only that, it was what had been said to him and that was before his first trip to rehab. He still remembered it clearly; the more time he had since Busted finished was spent drinking his cares away. Go out partying at night, sleep in and nurse a hangover the next morning, do whatever press was needed in the afternoon, and go out and party again. It was a vicious cycle that was easy to fall into. And when you were in a band it was even worse. If you wanted a drink before a photo shoot you could do it.

If you wanted to celebrate all of your awards and achievements buy having party after party you could do it. Then there were the hangers on and those that were working with you, they wanted to make sure the client was happy and if they were, they'd let you do whatever it was you wanted. And if you messed up they worked their magic to make sure it didn't get into the press.

True, it didn't always work for Matt and the more he went out the more times he found the tabloids making fun of him. Guessing what pubs he was going to go to, what time he would leave, and how trashed he would be by the time he was leaving. There were even a few that made a bet that they could drink with him while at the bar so that they could say they hung out with the 'Busted party animal'. He took it all in stride but there were times where he would roll onto his back or deal with a hangover and wonder why he continued to allow himself to work that way.

And that was nothing to say about his pot addiction at the time as well.

If there was anything he knew for sure, he wasn't ever going to fall back into drinking again. It caused too many problems for everyone around him and hurt everyone in more ways than imaginable.

If only the temptation wasn't too strong.

At the moment he wanted nothing more than to have a cigarette, which he would've if Riley hadn't broken his last one. _Maybe Charlie has one I can bum off him, _he thought. He walked further into the living room and dropped onto the touch. He took one look at James, who sat up straight in his seat, grinning at the TV, and immediately knew they were watching Back to the Future.

"Again?" He asked and was immediately shushed by Tom, Danny, and James.

Matt rolled his eyes. He sank further into the couch and tried to focus on the movie, anything but the restless bouncing of his leg, a sure sign that he was jonesing. He had worked so hard to get away from the stuff and the second things started to implode around them and he wanted to turn around and stared again despite his sobriety for the past five years.

He let out a low breath, closing his eyes as he tried to focus. Not even the phone ringing by the couch broke his concentration. Not until he heard James answer the phone then say, "Harry's awake!"

* * *

**A/N: **So guess what? I'm already working on the sequel to this story because..this one is almost over. So, yeah, that sort of spoils how things turn out, but you should know by now that I write sequels to most of my stories. As a matter of fact I haven't written a standalone in a while. Ha ha.

Anyway, that being said a lot of unfinished plots/ideas are being shifted to the second story purely because of pacing problems. When starting this story compared to where it is now a lot of my ideas have changed (which for a writer can be a blessing and a curse). But no idea has been outright abandoned.

**-Riles**


	29. Chapter 29

**.:Chapter Twenty-Nine:.**

* * *

_Bzzt bzzt._

_Bzzt bzzt._

Patrick groaned and put his pillow over his face before reaching out to grab his phone and silence it. Noah, who was sitting on his bed on the other side of the room, looked up from the bag he was packing. "Jewel again?" He asked

"Yes, again!" Patrick's voice was muffled. "I keep telling her that I'll get back to her but she keeps blowing up my phone."

"Is it that bad?"

"Apparently." Patrick removed the pillow from his face and rubbed his eyes. "I'm kind of glad to be going home for that reason alone. She's freaking the fuck out, man." He shrugged. "Honestly, I can't blame her, but usually she's a bit calmer than this."

Noah raised and lowered his shoulder as he shrugged. "Well, it's like you said. We're going back now, so it's not like she'll have to wait much longer or anything."

"I'd agree with you if it wasn't for the fact she's making it seem like I cheated on her or something." Noah gave him a look and Patrick's eyebrows rose as he nodded in response. "Yeah, exactly. Girls are weird, man."

"So just ask Riles and Rhubes what to do. Or Gen or Jacqui."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd love to talk to Jacqui about it." Patrick picked up his pillow and threw it at Noah, who caught it with one hand and threw it back.

He was silent for a long moment, resting his arms over his eyes. A part of him truly did want to go home, there was so much that had gone on in the last couple of weeks and days that just put a damper on things. Harry was getting stronger by the day but there were still complications, no one could tell him how much time had passed, they had to act like everything was normal.

But when he and Harry went to the gym to workout they couldn't work to the same intensity that they had before. Even then Patrick could see how frustrated Harry was getting over the whole thing. Not just because head to get healthy again, but also because of the shows that had to be postponed with no idea of when they would be scheduled again. It had to be hard to be the reason everything had to stop, especially when they blamed themselves. Harry hadn't said anything but Patrick could tell just by looking at him how guilty he felt about everything.

"Not to mention I'm falling behind in my school work and I need to me up with my advisor if I'm going to catch up on it," Patrick added.

That was the other thing he hated, feeling like he was letting not only himself, but Ronan and his parents down. It had been something that his mom and dad had instilled into him and his siblings for a long time, that school was important. Yes, his mother was Japanese, but no she never went into the stereotype to make absolute sure they got nothing but 'A's. It was, thankfully, one of the stereotypes she refused to portray. Still, having at least a high school degree was something that they wanted their children to at least have. College degrees were something they had the option of doing if they wanted to.

Honestly, Patrick never wanted to as school was never his favorite thing, but he had no other ideas of what he wanted to do at the time and just decided to apply for a History degree as it was his favorite subject. Unfortunately, his touring schedule coupled with songwriting, appearances, media days, and styling, and everything that went into was hard to keep up with at times.

"Yeah, I'm having some trouble with that, too, I think we all are, honestly. It's why I've tried to keep quiet whenever Ronan asks." Noah laughed a little then used his hand to push his hair from his face. "Last thing I want him to think is that I'm going to drop out."

"Mmm, I feel like it, sometimes."

"Would you do it?"

"Only if you would. Because I'm _not _going to suffer Ronan's wrath by myself." Patrick laughed. He looked up as James knocked on the doorframe and moved into the room. "Hey, man, what's up?" He sat up and gave James a high-five, who then did the same to Noah before sitting down on the end of Patrick's bed. "I thought you guys were going in town to talk to Fletch."

"We were but that got pushed back," James said. He blew his hair from his face in a frustrated breath. "So I came by to see if Tom was around to get some songwriting done."

"You mean to go fishing," Noah said with a half smile, which immediately dropped and he rolled his eyes when Patrick said, "What does fishing have anything to do with songwriting?" Noah turned his gaze back to James. "Ignore him, the rest of us do. Unfortunately, that just makes him talk even more." Patrick gave him the finger. "What's the meeting supposed to be about? The shows that we missed?"

"Sort of," James replied. He hesitated for a moment before bringing a hand up and started to absentmindedly rub his chin. "Fletch wanted to check in on the status of the band and everything. You know, to see how we're getting along now."

Patrick grinned, already knowing the answer. "What'd you tell him?"

"I don't know…" James replied. He and the twin boys started to laugh. It wasn't that funny but a typical James answer. Nearly every time he was asked something, even if he knew the answer, he'd start out by saying 'I don't know'. "But, honestly this time, I really don't. Me and Charlie haven't had a row as much as we have before. But we haven't really spoken to each other, you know? Actually, I'm surprised Charlie's stuck around because he hadn't really talked to anyone."

"Between you and Matt and Rhu, I don't think I'd talk to many people either, mate," Patrick said. Which was certainly the truth. Despite being on Charlie's side in the 'blow up' that Busted had years before, he felt for the guy in a lot of other ways. Not only was he the youngest of the band when it first started but being consistently known for his good looks—because he had been a model first—and not for his talent, Charlie had a massive chip on his shoulder that was probably still hard to overcome after being the reason for the band ending.

It was something that didn't seem to leave him alone.

"You also have to take into consideration that Charlie's always been really shy, too, mate," Noah said. "So, if anything, he probably doesn't want to say anything to _you _or Rhu in case things blow up in his face again." Then his eyes narrowed and he leaned forward to study James closely. "That's not it, is it? There's something else Fletch wanted to talk to you about."

James's eyebrows rose in startled surprise and he looked over at Patrick who shrugged. "We got used to that years ago, mate, now you have to deal with it. But he is right." Sitting up, Patrick brought his arms around his knees and studied James closely. "There's something else that you need to talk about. What is it?"

"I can't say," James said. He started to absentmindedly rub his beard again. A slightly glazed over look came to his eyes and Patrick chuckled to himself, watching him. The guy was supremely talented in everything that had to do with music but he could be a bit flighty too. "All I know is that there's something that I need to take care of back in New York so as bad as what's been going on with Harry, it didn't come at too much of a bad time."

"I think all of us are feeling that at this point, as bad as it is," Noah agreed.

Patrick glanced at Noah out of the corner of his eye, hearing something in his voice. Noah held up a hand, warning Patrick not to say anything and he nodded, keeping his mouth shut. It was one thing if Noah ever wanted to say anything but another if it was something he _didn't _want said and Patrick wasn't dumb enough to break that trust. He had seen it happen before for something Sydney accidentally spilled, and he wasn't about to see it happen again.

Especially when he knew it was something that was pretty serious.

* * *

Harry sighed in frustration as he slowly lowered his legs to the floor. He never wanted a maid again more than he did in that moment. Just so long as he didn't feel _so _pathetic about not being able to do things by himself. Then again, he was the one who said it was a good idea for everyone else to leave the house for a while so they didn't feel like they had to take care of him.

But he should've at least thought about that before realizing they would've been out for _hours _on end when he was starting to get hungry. And when he was too far away to get the remote to change it to Netflix or something .Sitting on his Instagram and Twitter accounts didn't help so much as well. While he was grateful fans were hoping things were okay and that the shows would be made up soon, he hated the guilt piling on top of him by the second. He was a liar and that's all there was to it, but the repercussions of explaining why he had to postpone the tour was worse than doing it.

The music industry was very strange in that way as much as it could be sick in others. It hadn't always been a problem but now it was something he did…

Shaking his head, Harry pushed himself until he was standing up. He stumbled a little bit, legs feeling wobbly. He hadn't felt this bad since the time he ran the marathon. Then it was a great charity, now…he had become careless. Even more so than he had ever been in his entire life. Harry rubbed his hands over his face. Who knew the time he spent passed out would mess up his body so much.

_It looked so different in TV shows and movies, _Harry thought. That was part of the problem as well, he knew a lot of his life was set in a 'that can't happen to me' mindset. Maybe he pushed the envelope a little too much on it. That was part of the big thing about being in the public eye and being part of the entertainment industry. Everyone told you 'yes' all the time, didn't put so much thought into what you did on your off-time as you were still making them money, and seemed to turn a blind eye to everything that wasn't completely life threatening.

If he remembered correctly Fletch had a clause in their contracts about the sports he and the rest of his best friends could and couldn't play for that reason alone. Especially American Football after they managed to duct tape Dougie to a field goal post after a concert one day in New York. Of course the worst part was when they realized he was actually stuck and they had to call in the Jacksons to help try and tear him down…tearing some of his skin in the process, but that was just stupid.

And funny.

But stupid.

Dougie's skin didn't grow back for a couple of months and even liquid band-aids didn't help much. He continued to get stuck to other things if he didn't sit carefully.

A low growl escaped Harry's lips as there was a knock at the front door and the doorbell rang. Of course he now had to shuffle like an old man all the way to the front door. He either needed a cane or would kill whoever was at the door. He pulled it open, ready to shout at the person then stopped when he spotted Jacqui standing on the front step, holding a large box in her hands.

"Hey," She greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey," Harry replied. He looked at her weirdly as she leaned back and forth, trying to see around him. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Is Tom here?"

Harry felt his mood drop a little bit more. He tried to keep the annoyance from his face because, honestly, she didn't deserve it. There was a part of him that was annoyed due to their past together, but another part of him was annoyed that the topic of conversation was on something else.

"Uh, no."

"Good, I don't have to hear him whine and complain anymore than I have to." Jacqui pushed by Harry and walked into the house, carrying the box in front of her at arm's length. She walked it into the living room as Harry closed the door behind her, slowly shuffling along behind her. "Just because I like to mess with him so much."

"Don't we all." Harry finally made it over to the couch and lowered himself down. Then he sighed heavily, realizing he didn't make a break for the remote or to the refrigerator for something to eat. He hoped Jacqui had something in her box he could snack on. "So what brings you here? Other than to mess with Tom in some way?"

Jacqui's eyebrows rose in surprise. "To see how you're doing, of course," she said. Lifting her legs up onto the couch she crossed them beneath her. "I know we haven't really talked within the last couple of years or even on this tour but you know I still care about you." She reached out and poked him on the knee. "And if I find out that you did this on purpose…"

"Do you think anyone would _willingly _do this to themselves on purpose?" Harry asked.

"There are a few that I know…they don't really know when to stop or don't want to. I just want to make sure that you're not suicidal or anything," Jacqui said. Harry let out a surprised laugh and she held up her hands. "Hey, like I've said, I've seen it happen before. I don't want this to be anything—"

"—If I wanted to commit suicide chances are I would've done it the time we put out our Above the Noise CD, seeing how much of a flop that was," Harry joked. Jacqui stared at him for a long moment. His joke went down like a lead balloon. "Okay, so that's not funny."

"Not at all."

"Well, I can't say having to wait to get back to playing isn't depressing," Harry admitted. His eyebrows came together in confusion .Why had he decided to say that? He was the strong one of the band, the one who kept his feelings on certain matters undisguised. Though on the flipside wasn't the first one to reveal the way he felt about other topics. Not to mention the one who liked to push people's buttons in tough decisions and conversation topics. "There's nothing that I love more than to drum but even after that—"

"—You just like to be healthy and able to live a healthy lifestyle, I know," Jacqui interrupted. She reached out and picked lint off of her jeans. Laughter escaped her lips when Harry turned her way. "You talked about it all the time when we went out; if we were together you were going to the gym or out on a run for one reason or another. And that was mostly after you dropped smoking so much pot."

"That's very true," Harry agreed.

"So if there's anyone else that understands that it's me."

That was very true, too.

They had a lot of things in common, especially both wanting to be able to get as much fun and joy out of life as they could. She was just as spontaneous as he was; willing to do anything he suggested at a moment's notice. Not to mention she liked to go out and party as much as he did. Their family dynamics were similar, what they wanted out of life was similar…part of the time he couldn't understand why they didn't work out.

"So why don't you tell me what you're really feeling?"

"Why don't _you _tell me what's in the box." Harry skillfully avoided the subject, turning his attention to the large item that nearly took up all of the space on the couch. He started to open it then pulled his hand back when Jacqui slapped the top of his hand.

"My box, I open it!" She declared. Throwing Harry a quick glare, she opened the flaps on the box and started to dig through it. She first produced a couple of books. "First, I have some books for you to read to keep you from becoming too bored."

_Too late, _Harry thought.

"Then I've got some iTunes gift cards so you can get some new music and podcast to load onto your iPod. Or maybe some videos." Jacqui threw the two pieces of plastic to him, which he barely caught against his chest. "Then some practice pads for drumming," she said. "Some DVDs and magazines…" she chuckled. "I'll let you go through those in the safety and privacy of your own room."

Harry took them and set them aside. "Ha ha," he said.

"And last but not least, this is probably the only time you can get away with eating unhealthy…" Jacqui fished through the last of the box and produced multiple packages of candy. "More candy than you can ever imagine." She brandished the colorful packets, almost going so far as to throw them into the air.

Laughing, Harry took them and looked them over. "I think you're starting to take this Pixie Stick obsession a little too far. Especially what happened the last one hundred times, mate."

"It's not an obsession; it's a way of life."

"I'm sure."

Harry took everything and set it aside. "Thanks, Jac. You really know how to make me feel better. Especially since everyone else can hardly look at me." He crossed his arms. "Especially Dougie. He practically sprints in the opposite direction every time I look at him."

It took him a few minutes before Jacqui's giggling reached his ears. He looked over at her, eyes narrowing into a glare when he saw her moving her hand to cover her mouth. Her shaking shoulders gave her away. When their eyes met she burst out into loud laughter. It took a few more minutes for her to finally calm down, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She apologized. "But thinking that Dougie wants to get _away_ from you is funny. Imagining him doing it is even funnier."

Harry smiled and then started to laugh himself when he realized how crazy it was. He really didn't blame them at all. When he woke up all of his friends were around him, letting him know how worried they were, brought in balloons and gifts, and hung out with him as long as the hospital would allow them. And they continued to make sure he was okay it was the elephant in the room that was the problem.

"How's he doing?" She asked.

"As good as can be, glued to my hip almost much as ever before," Harry said. "I think Tom's about to have a nervous breakdown though. But that's just Tom. And Danny tries to make me laugh as much as possible, but his psycho laugh is starting to get on my nerves."

"So is there anything you remember from that night?"

"Absolutely nothing." Harry started to pick at the scar that formed on his hand from the time he injured it during a show. He was telling the truth. He remembered darkness and waking up but nothing before and nothing directly after.

The only thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't ever going to drink again.

He was going to move on in many other areas of his life.

He glanced over at Jacqui as she picked up a package of candy and started to open it, using her teeth to do so.

Hopefully sooner rather than later.


	30. Chapter 30

**.:Chapter Thirty:.**

* * *

"So we're going to reschedule the dates for a few months from now, maybe more, maybe less once we figure out how you're feeling," Fletch stated, looking at the four boys in front of him. Harry let out a frustrated sigh and Fletch gave him a sympathetic look. "I know this is hard for all of you guys but your health is the most important thing. I've said that numerous times."

"Yeah, Fletch, I think we still remember that lecture," Danny commented. He went as far as to sticking his finger in his ear and wiggled it around. "I _still _have the headache from being yelled at."

"And that was just for smoking pot, think of what would happen if we had gone and murdered someone," Dougie added with a light smile.

"I think you run the risk of someone murdering _you _more than the other way around," Fletch commented. Despite his tone being flat an amused smile was on his face. "Trust me." He leaned back in his seat and ran his hands through his hair. He glanced around his office for a moment before saying, "Besides, if blame is going to be shared, then I believe I owe part of it."

Tom's eyebrows crinkled. "How is it your fault?"

"I reckon I was a little too eager in getting this tour together," Fletch commented. "It was all of us that thought it was a good idea to do the tour but I made sure it would happen double-time. There wasn't much time to rehearsal, for figuring out the stage, for press, anything that goes with it. A tour that should've had as much advertisement around it was much more of an afterthought. I apologize as it could've caused a lot of stress."

Danny shook his head. "Mate, it's not your fault. This could've happened to any of us. You know we all enjoy a drink when we get the chance."

Fletch managed a small smile (completely ignoring Tom's statement of "but this is probably the only time Fletch will ever be to blame for something, so let's take it").

Yes, he knew that was true.

There were many times he watched them enjoy themselves after a show and continue to fall over themselves, chairs, and other objects that were in the way and laugh hysterically while doing so. After cracking them down on the pot they had been smoking it didn't take long for them to switch to alcohol as well. That wasn't something any one felt needed to be monitored; he enjoyed a drink himself from time to time. And more often than not it was after a show that thy indulged.

He should've seen it coming, not to the extent it got to, but it was always possible.

"If anything, we're sorry we let you down," Harry said.

"Mate, you could never let me down," Fletch replied.

Fletch truly felt bad for the four boys; touring was something they enjoyed more than life itself. Not to mention being able to see their fans, disappointing them in any way was hard. The rest of their friends leaving for their homes had to be even harder. Even Jake had taken the time to go back to New York to get some things done before the tour started up again.

Clearing his throat, Fletch leaned forward, resting his arms on his desktop. He focused on the platinum records that lined the walls, focusing on the ones that McFly had one for singles and albums that went platinum, as well as for singles and albums that managed to crack the top 10 and stay there for an extended period of time.

They worked hard and loved what they did and he knew this wasn't going to stop them.

Then he glanced at the boys and noticed that Dougie, who had quickly grown bored of sitting in the office, had started to lean into Harry's side, trying to stick his tongue into the drummer's ear. Harry leaned away from him, pressing his hand into the face to keep him from touching him. Danny then pressed his hands against Dougie's back in the other side, pushing him closer to Harry. Tom sat on the other end of the couch, shaking his head while doing his best to hide his smile.

If they were getting on each other's nerves like that, it meant things were getting back to normal.

And if there was one thing Fletch knew about those boys, it was that they always knew how to bounce back from whatever momentarily stopped them.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: **And that's the end! Thank you for those that read and reviewed and favorite and alerted. It was fun getting back into this fandom after a long while of being away from it. The next story _What Happened to Your Band? _Will be up soon.

**-Riles**


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